JoJo Siwa Says ‘Dance Moms: The Reunion’ Producers ‘Tried to Do Some Shady S—t’

By Emma Chance | TV | May 3, 2024 |

By Emma Chance | TV | May 3, 2024 |

JoJo Siwa, former Dance Moms star and new inventor of the Gay Pop music genre (at the young age of 20, no less), talked about what went on behind the scenes of the Lifetime Dance Moms: The Reunion special, in which she reunited with her former fellow prisoners dance students, minus Maddie and Kenzie Ziegler, who declined to participate “for the sake of their mental health,” and Nia Sioux, who “Just really didn’t want to do it.”

@niasioux Replying to @nicholas ♬ original sound - NiaSioux

Fair enough, since these young women rose to fame for being emotionally abused by their former jailer teacher, Abby Lee Miller, who was also not in attendance.

But Siwa has since said on her podcast “JoJo Siwa Now” (“Now”? Girl, you aren’t even of legal drinking age; it’s been, like, two years since you were wearing bows in your hair every day. You don’t want to peak this soon! Do a “Now” podcast when you’re, like, 30!) that producers of the reunion special “kept wanting” her to “call Abby” while filming.

“Me and Kalani are the two who have a relationship with Abby,” a truly shocking admission since Siwa endured some of Miller’s worst treatment. Paige, Brooke, and Chloé don’t have any, and it was not a healthy end of a relationship.

She said she told the producers, “Absolutely not” and “That is where I put my foot down.” She wasn’t just concerned for her castmates but for Miller, too. “I was like, ‘I’m not only putting myself in an awkward position of calling in this environment, that no one invited her to, but also I’m putting Abby in a weird situation where she is talking to people who she doesn’t necessarily know how to talk to them.’” She understands, though, that her costars have “real trauma” from the show.

“I have a good relationship with Abby. I have chosen to see that Abby only ever wanted what was best for me and only ever was tough on me because she wanted what was best for me. So for me, I wanted to protect my relationship with Abby, and I wanted to protect my relationship with Brooke, Paige and Chloé.”

Speaking of those relationships, she said the producers “tried to do some shady shit,” including pitting some of them against each other.

“The producers wanted me and Chloé to kind of get into it a little bit and talk about our online beef, and honestly that’s not how I feel anymore,” she said. While she feels the reunion “was so healing for all of us” she also “thought there was, honestly…a better way to do it.” Her idea is to “Stick all of us in a house for a month” and see what happens.

Sounds like a recipe for totally untraumatic fun!