JoJo Siwa, the newly appointed So You Assume You Can Dance choose, is pictured on the American Music Awards on Nov. 21, 2021, in Los Angeles.
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
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Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
JoJo Siwa, the newly appointed So You Assume You Can Dance choose, is pictured on the American Music Awards on Nov. 21, 2021, in Los Angeles.
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
JoJo Siwa will substitute Nigel Lythgoe as a choose on the hit actuality TV dance collection So You Assume You Can Dance.
Fox introduced the 20-year-old TV and social media persona will be a part of co-hosts Allison Holker and Maksim Chmerkovskiy with the launch of season 18 on Mar. 4, following Lythgoe’s choice to step down as he faces two sexual assault lawsuits.
The 74-year-old producer and choreographer is accused of assaulting his high-profile co-host, TV persona, actor and singer Paula Abdul, who filed a sexual assault lawsuit towards Lythgoe on the finish of final 12 months. Two different ladies, former contestants on the fact TV present All American Lady, launched a separate sexual assault lawsuit towards Lythgoe quickly after.
Lythgoe has denied the allegations.
”I’ve knowledgeable the producers of So You Assume You Can Dance of my choice to step again from taking part on this 12 months’s collection,” Lythgoe stated in an announcement shared with NPR on Jan. 6. ”I did so with a heavy coronary heart however completely voluntarily as a result of this nice program has at all times been about dance and dancers, and that is the place its focus wants to stay. Within the meantime, I’m dedicating myself to clearing my title and restoring my repute.”
The present’s producers — Fox, 19 Leisure and Dick Clark Productions — additionally shared an announcement at the moment about its choice to maneuver ahead with out Lythgoe, ”to make sure the present stays dedicated to the contestants, who’ve labored extremely onerous for the chance to compete on our stage.”
Born in Omaha, Neb., Siwa launched her profession on the Lifetime collection Dance Mothers in 2015. She went on to work with Nickelodeon and developed a following on YouTube for movies about her day by day life. Siwa appeared on the thirtieth season of Dancing with the Stars in 2021, making information headlines as the primary particular person to bop with a same-sex companion.
Siwa’s earlier look as a choose on the final season of So You Assume You Can Dance has divided followers of the present in regards to the information of her appointment for the upcoming season.
”This ruins the present for me. I attempted to look at when she was on final season. So annoying and loud. Not going to look at now,” wrote one particular person on the Fox Instagram channels asserting Siwa’s new job. ”I used to be shocked at how good she was at judging. Jojo is loud, however she actually is aware of her stuff. And her method feedback, for probably the most half, are spot on. Give her a break,” wrote one other.