Dancing with the Stars fans have been vocal on social media about JoJo Siwa competing on the show.
One of the biggest complaints is that she intensively studied dancing as a child and some fans feel that makes her a professional dancer.
JoJo is not the first to have extensive dance training and actress Zendaya came onto Dancing with the Stars in Season 16 with similar training.
On this week’s episode of DWTS, one of the judges even compared JoJo to Zendaya.
Zendaya on Dancing with the Stars
Zendaya was 16 years old when she appeared on Dancing with the Stars. She ended up making it to the finals before losing to Kellie Pickler.
Zendaya had five perfect scores in the competition in the jive, samba, salsa, hip-hop, and freestyle.
For anyone who has forgotten, Zendaya was a dancer and singer – just like JoJo Siwa – before she became a successful actress in movies like Dune.
When Zendaya was six, she performed in the California Shakespeare Theater and when she was eight she started her own hip-hop dance troupe called Future Shock that she performed with for three years.
She spent two years hula dancing with AHA, The Academy of Hawaiian Arts. She then attended the Oakland School for the Arts and performed in several theater roles.
In 2005, she was a back-up dancer for Selena Gomez. She then went on to release her own music, with a career that looked very much like JoJo Siwa’s at the same age.
Val even said that the 16-year-old Zendaya was almost like a “ringer” that he had to break down and teach, since the dancing she did was nothing like ballroom dancing.
“Zendaya was mine to ruin, Normani was mine to ruin, they were amazing already and I just made some good choices for them and then just got out of their way,” Val said.
This is the exact same thing JoJo has gone through this season.
Zendaya is now 25 and a major movie star in Hollywood. JoJo Siwa just turned 18 in May and is still very young and is learning as she goes.
Now, she has been compared to Zendaya.
JoJo Siwa responds to Zendaya comparisons on DWTS
JoJo Siwa was flattered when Carrie Ann Inaba compared her to Zendaya. She said it was an interesting comparison because both were child stars that didn’t go crazy and stayed on a consistent career path.
“But for me, I feel like this is my transition,” JoJo said of being on Dancing with the Stars. “And I feel like it’s such a good, wholesome, right way of transitioning out of being a child star. And it feels so good to grow every single day and learn new things about myself every single day.”
Jenna agreed and said she sees big things for JoJo in the future.
“That was, I think, such a big compliment [because] Zendaya, I think, flourished on the show and then became who she is now, [which is] a freaking icon.”
Dancing with the Stars airs on Monday nights at 8/7c on ABC.