Nigel Lythgoe will keep on smiling, but to another show. The executive producer of “American Idol” announced in a statement on Monday that he would leave the show, in order to dedicate his attention and time to another promising show “So You Think You Can Dance?”

According to The New York Times, Nigel Lythgoe, a creator, executive producer and judge for the dance show, said that he would go to South Africa, Australia and Canada to get some work done on the local versions of the series. With his travelling, he will not be able to continue with “America Idol.”

“Due to the huge success of So You Think You Can Dance?, my summer will be taken up by travels to South Africa, Australia and Canada to work on local versions of the show,” said Nigel Lythgo in a statement, according to E! Online.

Lyhtgoe will try a joint venture with Simon Fuller, the creator of “American Idol,” who spoke highly of him, calling him “the best producer I have ever worked with,” adding that they have been collaborating for more than 10 years. The two of them are responsible for creating “So You Think You Can Dance?” contest series, which airs on Fox.

“I will step back from my day-to-day producing work on ‘American Idol’ and will be devoting my time to the new enterprise,” said Nigel Lythgoe.

Referring to Nigel Lythgoe’s leaving, Fox congratulated him, adding that the network “was disappointed” that Lythgoe was going to leave the show.

“He is an extraordinarily talented producer whose creative contributions to the No. 1 show on television have been immeasurable,” acknowledged the network said in a statement.

The current state of “American Idol” is still good, but statistics show that its audience is aging. The series had 28.4 million weekly viewers last season compared to the 30.8 million who watched the show in 2005-2006, its highest-rated year.