JoJo Siwa stands out as the self-proclaimed “CEO of gay pop,” but in a robust recent interview on “We Need To Talk,” the entertainer opened up a few side of her life that fans rarely see.
In terms of her experience on “Dance Mothers,” JoJo Siwa desired to set the record straight as she opened up concerning the emotional toll of growing up on camera, while clarifying that she doesn’t view her time on the show as abusive.
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JoJo Siwa Gets Candid About ‘Dance Mothers’ Chaos And Lasting Need For Validation
“To me, that is whose opinion I needed and valued,” Siwa told Paul C. Brunson of her mom Jessalynn. “That’s something I struggle with now that I’m older, you already know, not needing people’s approval because I still don’t need the world, but I do still look to my mom and my partner.”
Siwa became a household name because of her larger-than-life bows, daring personality, and fierce determination on the hit reality show. But she admits that the environment on “Dance Mothers” was removed from healthy, especially for young, impressionable girls.
“It was sink or swim,” she explained. “A really wild, not normal, such unique environment that you simply cannot recreate.”
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JoJo Reflects On ‘Dance Mothers’ Drama
Looking back, JoJo said she never considered herself “emotionally abused” by coach Abby Lee Miller. As an alternative, she recognized early on how the show’s high-stress dynamic worked behind the scenes.
“I might know A. we’re filming a TV show, B. Abby just got here out this heated argument with producers that nobody’s going to see and he or she’s taking it out on me, all good, you already know what I mean?” she said. “Sure, I may be the punching bag for 20 minutes.”
But not everyone could compartmentalize the best way she did.
“A variety of people have different sensitivities. That’s something I had zero sympathy for five years ago, and I got checked online. People said, ‘Hey, everyone’s experience was different.’ And so they were so right.”
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JoJo Siwa Reveals The Most Painful Moments On ‘Dance Mothers’ Weren’t From Adults
JoJo admitted that a few of the deepest wounds didn’t come from the adults on set but from the opposite girls.
“You possibly can watch my confidence drop throughout the seasons,” she said. “That confidence drop was by the individuals who were on my same level, that was by my friends, that was resulting from all putting on the identical outfit and saying ‘Oo Jojo your hip looks crazy’.”
One moment specifically still haunts her.
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JoJo Recalls Being Left Out On ‘Dance Mothers’
Recounting a memory of being neglected during a hotel hangout, Siwa described how one girl refused to present her ice cream because she would not leave the room to go downstairs, as her mom instructed.
JoJo explained that there have been seven of them, but she brought back six ice creams, and he or she handed one to everyone and walked past Siwa. “That’s the stuff that sticks with me for all times.”
She also revealed that her long-standing insecurity about her singing voice stems from her time on the show. “I used to be told by a few of the other girls that I couldn’t sing with them because I wasn’t a superb enough singer,” she explained. “Still to today, I leave every recording session crying. I won’t do singing lessons since it makes me feel like that.”
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JoJo Siwa Says Abby Commented On Her Body At Age 11
In terms of Abby, JoJo isn’t afraid to be honest, even when it comes with a dose of humor.
“I’m not going to present Abby her flowers and say she didn’t say anything about my body, because she did once,” Siwa said, recalling one instance where the dance coach made a comment about her stage outfit. “My mom went at her, like ‘Don’t speak about my 11-year-old’s body.’”
Still, JoJo makes it clear she doesn’t need to paint anyone as an entire villain. “I don’t need to justify Abby’s behavior, but I also don’t need to put all the things on her.
JoJo continued, “She has her sh-t. We’ve all talked to her now that we’re older, like ‘You were a b-tch sometimes,’ and he or she’s like, ‘Oh sweetie, you already know I really like you,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, but you were a b-tch.’”
Despite the hardships, Siwa stays grounded within the resilience that helped her rise above all of it, explaining that while she has been through “some sh-t,” she has also been lucky. “Perhaps people abused their power over me, but I used to be a lucky case. That’s not true for everybody.”
With brutal honesty and surprising vulnerability, JoJo Siwa is showing the world that even the brightest bows don’t all the time hide the deepest bruises.
