JoJo Siwa makes Dancing with the Stars history as part of first same-sex pairing
JoJo Siwa attends Nickelodeon’s 2019 Kids’ Choice Awards at Galen Center on 23 March 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty/Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
LGBT+ icon and giant hair accessory afficianado JoJo Siwa has made history as part of the first same-sex couple on Dancing with the Stars.
The YouTube star, who came out as part of the LGBT+ community in January, will compete with a female professional partner in the 30th season of ABC’s ballroom dance competition.
Siwa, 18, told USA Today before the announcement that she was excited to be “making history”.
“This has never happened on Dancing with the Stars before,” Siwa added. “It’s always been a boy-girl couple.”
IM SO EXCITED https://t.co/EN1ygC5Jj3
— JoJo Siwa (@itsjojosiwa) August 26, 2021
JoJo Siwa’s Dancing with the Stars partner has not been revealed, but she told USA Today that the idea for a same-sex coupling happened during her initial talks with producers.
She said she told producers that she would “love and prefer to dance with a girl” to drive home the message that “you can love whomever you want to love”.
“I have a girlfriend [Kylie Prew] who is the love of my life and who is everything to me,” JoJo Siwa said. “My journey of coming out and having a girlfriend has inspired so many people around the world.”
She continued: “I thought that if I chose to dance with a girl on this show, it would break the stereotypical thing.
“It would be new, different and change for the better.”
JoJo Siwa arrives for the Premiere Of Sony’s “The Angry Birds Movie 2” on 10 August 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)
Dancing with the Stars’s UK equivalent, Strictly Come Dancing, featured its first-ever same-sex couple, boxer Nicola Adams and professional dancer Katya Jones, in 2020.
Earlier this month, Strictly announced that Great British Bake Off winner John Whaite will join its 2021 season as one-half of its first-ever male same-sex pairing.
Whaite, who won the third series of Bake Off, said he’s “nervous” but believes he was “born” to be on the Strictly dance floor
“I’m actually shaking inside,” Whaite said. “I was born to be on that dancefloor. I’m going to have to be taken off kicking and screaming every week.”
