Dancing With The Stars is a competition show on ABC that pairs an eclectic group of celebrities with professional dancers and pits them against each other on the dance floor. Since the premiere season in 2005, stars ranging from basketball players to singers have danced their hearts out every week while receiving guidance from a panel of experts. Just before the 30th season of the show, it was announced that history would be made. JoJo Siwa would join the cast and be the very first US contestant to dance with a partner of the same sex. 

Living Her Truth

Ex-Dance Moms star and YouTuber/influencer JoJo Siwa has lived her life in front of millions from a young age. The now 18-year-old came out via TikTok in January of this year. Siwa posted a video wearing a bedazzled rainbow hoodie and lip-syncing to “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga. She later confirmed that this was her own way of coming out to her fans, clarifying that she is a part of the LGBTQ+ community, but doesn’t identify as anything specific just yet. Along with this news, she also announced that she had a girlfriend. JoJo and Kylie Prew, her now ex-girlfriend, broke up just last week but had been dating for almost a year. 

When asked what was particularly difficult about coming out, JoJo replied, “I think coming out has this stigma around it, that it’s a really, really, really scary thing. It’s not anymore. There’s so many accepting and loving people out there. Of course people are gonna say it’s not normal, but it’s your normal.” 

Killing It On The Dance Floor

Though JoJo and her partner Jenna Johnson Chmerkovskiy are not the first of all versions of Dancing With The Stars to be a duo of the same gender, they are one of the first. The UK’s version, Strictly Come Dancing, featured boxer Nicola Adams and pro Katya Jones two years ago. Both are showing people everywhere that being unapologetically yourself is never something to be sorry for, and they are smashing it in the process. 

Siwa said the producers of the show approached her with the idea of a same-sex pairing and she was on board right away, saying that she would actually prefer that. Her pro, Jenna, was equally as excited for this milestone. There was a discussion about how traditionally, the dances on the show have a male and a female part. JoJo and Jenna discussed this with USA Today, saying they believed they may switch up who takes which role. They decided to take it one day at a time. From what we’ve seen so far on the program, JoJo seems to prefer the lead role. 

Another One Bites The Dust

After their IT-themed dance for horror week last Monday, JoJo and Jenna are in first place in the competition! The pair got two perfect scores (40 out of 40 possible points from the judges) in a row! They look to continue this great streak this Monday on ‘Queen Night’, with all the duos getting assigned a song by the legendary rock band. Siwa and her pro partner will be dancing the Tango to “Body Language.” Hopefully they can perform well “Under Pressure”! Bring on the dancing!