JoJo Siwa is an American dancer, singer, actress, and YouTube personality. She is known for wearing large, colorful bows in her hair. She became famous after she appeared in two seasons of the American dance reality show, ‘Dance Moms’ (2015-16).
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Jojo Siwa was born as ‘Joelle Joanie Siwa’ on Monday, May 19, 2003 (age 17 years; as in 2020), Omaha, Nebraska, US. Her zodiac sign is Taurus.
JoJo started dancing from a young age at her mother’s dance studio.
Physical Appearance
[1]Washington Post Height: 5’ 9”
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Blonde (also dyed Brown)
Family, Ethnicity & Relationships
Parents & Siblings
Her mother, Jessalynn Siwa, is an American actress and dance instructor from Lowa. Her father, Dr. Tom Siwa, is a chiropractor from Nebraska. She has an elder brother, Jayden Siwa who is a vlogger.
Relationships
She was once rumored to be in a relationship with the American footballer, Elliott Brown.
She is in a relationship with Mark Bontempo.
Career
Early Career, Acting, and YouTube
In 2013, she participated in Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition; she was one of the top-5 finalists in the show.
In 2015-16, she participated in the season 5 and 6 of the TV Show ‘Dance Moms’ with her mother.
She has appeared in many television shows as a guest, some of them are: Good day L.A. (2015), Make It Pop (2016), and All That (2019). She has also appeared in the reality shows, Keeping Up with the Kadarshians (2019) in the episode ‘Three’s Company,’ The Substitute (2020), The Masked Singers (2020), and Celebrity Watch Party (2020).
In 2017, she hosted the show ‘Lip Synch Battle Shorties,’ an American musical reality show in which celebrities battle each other with lip sync performances.
In 2017, she signed with Nickelodeon, which took over all her ventures as an artist, be it her singing, acting, or her YouTube channel. In 2018, she made her acting debut with the American film ‘Blurt!’ as ‘Victoria Martin.’
She made her debut as a dubbing artist with the American animated show ‘Middle School Moguls’ (2019) as ‘Josie.’
In 2020, her animated web series ‘Jojo & BoBow Show Show’ was released on YouTube by Nickelodeon.
In February 2015, she started her YouTube channel by the name ‘Its JoJo Siwa.’ The first video that she uploaded was titled ‘Q & A with JoJo Siwa.’
She has more than 11.8 million subscribers on her YouTube Channel.
As a Singer
She released her first single ‘I Can Make U Dance’ in 2015.
Her first single with a music video was ‘Boomerang,’ which was released in 2016.
Other singles by Jojo are – Kid in a Candy Store (2017), Hold the Drama (2017), Every Girl’s a Super Girl (2018), High Top Shoes (2018), Only Getting Better (2018), Bop! (2019), and Nonstop (2020). She released her first extended play ‘D.R.E.A.M: The Music’ in 2018.
The other extended play that she released was ‘Celebrate’ (2019).
As an Author
She wrote her first book ‘JoJo’s Guide to the Sweet Life: #PeaceOutHaterz’ in 2017.
She has also written the books – Things I Love: A Fill-In Friendship Book (2018), JoJo Loves BowBow: A Day in the Life of the World?s Cutest Canine (2018), JoJo’s Guide to Making Your Own Fun: #DoItYourself (2018), Take the Stage (JoJo and BowBow Book #1) (2018), Candy Kisses (JoJo and BowBow Book #2) (2019), and The Posh Puppy Pageant (JoJo and BowBow Book #3) (2019).
JoJo Siwa as a Brand
JoJo Siwa released a line of bows in 2016, which were sold at Claire’s, a fashion-accessory company aimed at 6-to-12-year-old girls.
Some fashion accessories sold at Claire’s are headband, bows, bags, phone cases, pens, watches. Subsequently, she partnered with the American department store J. C. Penney to release a line of accessories, bedroom decor, t-shirt, dresses, shoes, and JoJo dolls. She also partnered with Walmart, which markets her brand’s toys, home, and beauty products. In a conversation with the YouTuber James Charles, she said that her brand was worth a billion dollars. [2]Daily Mail
Awards & Achievements
- Industry Dance Awards for Dancers Choice Awards Favorite Dancer 17 & Under in 2016
- Reality Television Awards for Most Heartfelt Moment for the show ‘Dance Moms’ in 2016
Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards
- Favorite Viral Music Artist in 2017
- Favorite Musical YouTube Creator in 2018
- Favorite Social Music Star in 2019
- Favorite Social Music Star in 2020
Controversies
- In 2016, after she released her line of bows with Claire’s, her bows formed a strong liking among primary-school students in the United Kingdom. However, her bows were banned in many schools as the teachers discovered that children were unable to afford the bows because of their high price (which retail for approximately £8 ($10.40) to £12 ($15.60) each) and were bullied by their peers who could afford them. The other reasons her bows were banned was that they were a distraction to students, harmed students’ concentration, and violated the schools’ dress code policies. [3]The Telegraph
- In June 2019, Siwa ran into trouble with her cosmetics line after FDA issued a warning about the dangerous levels of asbestos in her cosmetics kit. In response to the controversy, Claire’s canceled the product, and Siwa posted a now-deleted YouTube video to address the issue. In the video, she had said, [4]USA Today
Recently, it’s been brought to my attention that there’s been a problem with one of my products in Claire’s stores. I just want to let everyone know that no matter what, safety is myself and Nickelodeon’s number one priority in everything, in every product, and everything out there.”
- In December 2019, she posted a photo of her BMW sports car with complete glitter paint, shooting stars, JoJo’s face on the hood; she had received the present as a Christmas present. Justin Bieber commented ‘Burn It’ for three times on her post. Soon, her mother pointed out at Justin Bieber to burn his own things. After this, Justin faced a huge backlash. Later, Justin took to his Twitter handle and apologized, saying, [5]Daily Mail
I have nothing against you it was the car and the colors I didn’t like. I really hope you didn’t think it was malicious or mean spirited.”
- In June 2020, she released the music video of her single ‘Nonstop’ in which she was seen as a ringmaster, and backup dancers were dressed as animals and circus performers. Out of which, one dancer was dressed as a monkey with her face painted black. This drew huge criticism as blackface is considered offensive in the entertainment industry. Talking about it, she said, [6]USA Today
We’re talking about kids dressing up as circus animals! No one in my video is wearing blackface. It’s awful that anyone’s mind would even go there. Kids dressing in animal costumes, having their faces painted to look like animals, acting the part. There were zebras, tigers, dogs, clowns, mermaids, everything. I’ve addressed Black Lives Matter issues previously on my social media. I will say it again for the ones in the back, Black Lives Matter, today, tomorrow, yesterday and forever. I’m on the right side of history here. Stop trying to make this about something it isn’t.”
Signature
Favorite Things
- Singers: Freddie Mercury, Miley Cyrus, Meghan Trainor
- Band: Queen, Jonas Brothers
- Song: Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen and The Muppets
Property
In the December of 2019, JoJo purchased a $3.4 million mansion in the upscale L.A. community of Tarzana, deep within the San Fernando Valley’s suburban region. She lives there with her family. [7]Variety
Cars Collection
- Customized BMW 4 Series Convertible
- Customized Tesla Model X
Facts/Trivia
- In her spare time, JoJo likes dancing, driving, and playing golf.
- At the age of two, she gave her first stage performance in the song “Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now” from the musical ‘Hairspray.’
- In 2018, JoJo announced her first major concert tour titled ‘D.R.E.A.M. Her tour was held at theaters, outdoor amphitheaters, stadiums, and indoor arenas in a total of 52 cities across the United States and Canada. Additionally, other performances were held in the United Kingdom and Australia. The tour began in Phoenix, Arizona on May 17, 2019, and ended on August 20, 2019, in Vancouver, Canada.
- In October 2019, she launched an app called ‘JoJo Siwa-Live to Dance,’ which is available for both iOS and Android.
- In her childhood, she wished to become either a pop star or a surgeon.
- Her fans are known as ‘Siwanatorz.’
- She dubbed the characters of ‘Jay’ and ‘Kira’ in the American animated film ‘The Angry Birds Movie 2’ (2019).
- She also does philanthropic activities. She shows her support to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for their Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
- She is an avid dog lover and has a pet dog, ‘BowBow.’
References
↑1 | Washington Post |
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↑2 | Daily Mail |
↑3 | The Telegraph |
↑4 | USA Today |
↑5 | Daily Mail |
↑6 | USA Today |
↑7 | Variety |