Matthew Morrison fired from So You Think You Can Dance’ for sending ‘flirty’ messages, sources say

Matthew Morrison was fired from ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ for sending “a series of flirty direct messages”, sources allege.

The former ‘Glee’ star was let go from the Fox reality talent competition after follow his “inappropriate relationship with a female contestant”

A source told PEOPLE that the 43-year-old actor was sacked “after he had an inappropriate relationship with a female contestant.”

They added: “They didn’t have sex, but he reached out to her through flirty direct messages on social media. She felt uncomfortable with his line of comments and went to producers, who then got Fox involved. He was fired after they did their own investigation.”

The insider shared that Matthew and the unknown woman “never met up off-set”.

They continued: “It just messages that crossed the line.”

Representatives for both Matthew and Fox did not respond to PEOPLE’S request for comment, however, last week, the Broadway star confirmed his departure after not adhering to “competition protocols”.

He said:”Having the opportunity to be a judge on So You Think You Can Dance was an incredible honour for me. Therefore, it is my deepest regret to inform you that I will be leaving the show.

“After filming the audition rounds for the show and completing the selection of the 12 finalists, I did not follow competition production protocols, preventing me from being able to judge the competition fairly.

“I cannot apologise enough to all involved and I will be watching alongside you all on what I know will be one of the best seasons yet.”

Due to the show – which includes a judging panel of JoJo Siwa and Stephen “tWitch” Boss and host Cat Deeley – being pre-taped, Matthew is expected to appear in some episodes until his replacement is found this month.