October 2, 2020
Social Media Star HRVY Tests Positive for COVID-19
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
21-year-old social media star HRVY (a.k.a. Harvey Leigh Cantwell) announced on Twitter that he has tested positive for COVID-19, the BBC reports.
hi, wasn't gonna worry anyone and say anything but now the story's out, i have coronavirus, I'm all good, no symptoms, just isolating for the next 10 days. already super bored so prepare yourselves for my Tik toks– hrvy (@HRVY) October 1, 2020
HRVY is slated to appear on the new season of British dance contest reality show "Strictly Come Dancing," the premiere episode of which is scheduled to shoot on Oct. 12. That start date will allow HRVY to quarantine for the requisite 10 days, media reports said. A BBC spokesperson confirmed that "Pending a negative test, HRVY won't miss the launch recording or any dance training."
The premiere will air Oct. 24. Subsequent episodes will be broadcast live.
HRVY shot to fame when he posted music videos to social media and they went viral. The youthful star "has a social media following of more than 10 million, and more than a billion combined streams to his name," the BBC noted.
"Strictly Come Dancing" made headlines recently when it was announced the new season would include a same-sex pairing of contestants. The pairings consist of a celebrity and a professional dancer. The decision was prompted by a request from one of the celebrities slated to appear in the new season.
When about 100 members of the public protested the decision, the BBC issued a statement from the BBC that read, in part:
We have stated, in the past, that we are open to the prospect of including same-sex pairings between our celebrities and professional dancers, should the opportunity arise... Nicola Adams requested an all-female pairing, which we are happy to facilitate.
The show is first and foremost about dance, the sex of each partner within a coupling should have no bearing on their routine.
