JoJo Siwa Wows Again on 'DWTS', This Time Tangoing Britney Spears

This week’s episode of Dancing with the Stars saw Jojo Siwa and her dancing partner, Jenna Johnson, taking the floor in coordinating plaid outfits and doing the tango to the appropriately sultry “Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears. Their performance was the strongest of the evening, earning the highest score: 24 out of 40. 

Prior to the dance, Siwa opened up about why she feels especially connected to Spears, partly because they share the experience of being child stars.

“I think I’ve had a really great support system around me, but being a child star is hard,” she explained. “I was always homeschooled, and so I never had a person bullying, like it wasn’t a thing for me.”

Siwa also recounted a time when, at age 14, she was harassed while visiting a Halloween theme park. A group of people recognized her and began shouting “‘JoJo Siwa, ‘F’ you’,” she recalled. “No 14-year-old wants to hear that,” Siwa said. “Every time that I go through something, it reminds me of the other side, of what’s good.”

While those were painful memories, Siwa had nothing but positivity to heap upon Spears, who she referred to as a genius. “I love Britney,” Siwa said. “Britney is a legend, an icon. A ball of talent and glitter and energy... she just has a way of being herself, almost like nobody else does.”

Siwa also shared on Instagram how happy she was about her performance, and how much work went into making it happen. “That. Was. Epic. I have no words right now. This week Jenna and I pushed harder than ever and it makes me so happy to see everything come together on stage LIVE,” wrote Siwa, who went on to thank her partner for “making week 3 better than I could’ve imagined!” 

Next week’s two-night special will focus first on the theme of Disney Heroes, followed by Disney Villians. We can’t wait to see what Siwa and Johnson have planned for that.