Lythgoe is also co-creator and executive producer of the Fox dance competition series, whose 18th season is set to start in March.

“I have informed the producers of ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ of my decision to step back from participating in this year’s series,” Lythgoe said in a statement. “I did so with a heavy heart but entirely voluntarily because this great program has always been about dance and dancers, and that’s where its focus needs to remain. In the meantime, I am dedicating myself to clearing my name and restoring my reputation.”

The 74-year-old English-born Lythgoe has been a prominent TV producer for decades in both the U.K. and the U.S., working on reality competition shows including “American Idol.”

The singer and dancer Abdul alleged in a lawsuit filed Dec. 30 that Lythgoe twice assaulted her — first in the early 2000s when she was an “American Idol” judge and again about a decade later when she was a judge on “So You Think You Can Dance,” which she left after two seasons.

Lythgoe called the allegations an “appalling smear” that he intends to fight.

The Associated Press does not generally identify people who say they are the victims of sexual assault unless they come forward publicly, as Abdul has done.

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For the upcoming season, dancers who advance from auditions will be divided into two teams: stage dancers who are trained in styles like jazz, tap or ballet and street dancers who have mastered hip-hop, break dancing or animation. One dancer from each genre will be sent home each week leading up to the finale.

“So You Think You Can Dance” returns for its 12th season next summer.

Nigel Lythgoe, co-creator, executive producer and judge of the dance competition show, said in a recent interview that contestants who are great dancers but aren’t professionally trained sometimes become overwhelmed early in the competition.

“What we thought was why don’t we give them an opportunity of getting through and then they’ve got the opportunity to train a little bit … to relax a little bit, and then once we get to the top 20, that’s when we hit them with, ‘OK, now you’ve got to do all the different styles’ … where the stage kids are given hip-hop to do and the hip-hop kids are given stage dance to do.”

He said the division is interesting because there has been “arrogance” on the show between trained and street dancers. But “that quickly dissipated once they saw what the other could do” and they soon swapped ideas. “Dancers, above anyone I’ve ever worked with, are comrades-in-arms,” he said.

Lythgoe, who has worked as a performer and a choreographer, said he’s always appreciated street dancing.

“It was throwing the book out, it was doing what felt natural to the music, and it was very dangerous and daring and continues to be. That was the one big thing for me in creating ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ is that I could let other people appreciate street” dancing.

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Media company CKx Inc., which owns proprietary rights to “Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance,” said Tuesday is being sold to a private equity group for about $511 million in cash.

CKx also owns the rights to the name, image and likeness of Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali.

The buyout group, led by Apollo Global Management, agreed to pay $5.50 per share for CKx, a 24 percent premium to the stock’s closing price Monday of $4.45. Shares rose $1.02, or 22.9 percent, to $5.47 in morning trading Tuesday.

The company had about 92.9 million shares outstanding as of March 31.

The board and The Promenade Trust, a group that benefits Lisa Marie Presley and is the company’s partner managing the Elvis Presley name, support the deal, as does Robert F.X. Sillerman, the company’s largest shareholder with a nearly 21 percent stake. A cash tender offer is expected to start soon and expire in 20 days.

Goldman Sachs Bank USA provided a debt financing commitment in connection with the deal.

The news came as New York-based CKx repoirted net income of $7.2 million in the first quarter, or 8 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $5 million, or 5 cents per share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 20 percent to $53.3 million from $66.6 million, last year.

“We believe that our strategy of focusing on our core properties, including the resurgent ‘American Idol’ and ‘So You Think You Can Dance,’ which will begin airing its new season on May 26, will lead us to a successful 2011,” said CEO Michael Ferrel.

CKx also operates Presley’s Graceland and has proprietary rights to the “Idol” and “So You Think You Can Dance” brands, including the “American Idol” series in the U.S. and other local adaptions in more than 100 countries.

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