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During the first live episodes of season 19 of The Voice, it was announced that Ryan Gallagher would not be able to compete for the remainder of the season, so votes for him in the four-way knockout were disregarded. It has since been alleged that he broke COVID-19 protocols, but Gallagher denies those allegations.
According to People, Gallagher broke The Voice’s COVID-19 protocols and was dismissed from the show, but they had no further details at the time. Gallagher shared earlier in the season that his mom was sick with coronavirus, but that wasn’t the reason for his exit, he confirmed on Instagram via a story.
“Thank you everybody for your concern for my family,” he wrote on his sotry. “However, everybody’s fine. That’s not the cause of what happened tonight on The Voice. I didn’t drop out of the show. Details are still to come. I’ll keep you posted.”
Gallagher Denies Allegations of Breaking Protocols
Gallagher has denied those allegations through his manager, according to People.
“Last Sunday, my client Ryan Gallagher, who was a leading contender as part of Kelly Clarkson’s team on the current season of NBC-TV’s The Voice, was dismissed by NBC and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios for an alleged violation of the show’s Covid 19 protocol,” Michael Catalano told People in a statement. “In my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth.”
The statement also said that Gallagher understands the seriousness of the novel coronavirus and that his mother was previously hospitalized and in the ICU for three weeks.
“It was a scary time for Ryan and his family and he certainly would not knowingly put anyone at risk by not adhering to the show’s Covid-19 policy.”
Gallagher was part of the four-way knockout competition, and if he had not been dismissed from the show, it’s possible he would have continued on to the live shows. If he hadn’t received the most votes from viewers, however, Gallagher would not have been moving on in the competition. As it stands, Team Blake’s knockout round contestant was the contestant chosen to compete in the live shows.
NBC Responded to Gallagher’s Denial
NBC responded to the statement put out by Gallagher’s manager to People.
“Ryan is a talented artist; however, The Voice has strict Covid protocols in place to secure a safe set for our crew, coaches and contestants,” the statement read. “We were made aware of a breach in those protocols, and after examining the situation, and out of an abundance of caution, we determined that Ryan could not participate in our Monday night show without potentially putting others at risk. Therefore, we made the difficult decision to remove Ryan from the competition.”
Gallagher reached out to followers on Instagram by uploading a video of him performing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
“Music is the only thing that transports me to a better place… and Christmas music even more,” he wrote. “It’s been a weird/stressful week. I am grateful to each and every one of you for your continued support and love throughout this new development. Stand by for more facts!”
The Voice airs on Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
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