JoJo Siwa

**Joelle Joanie** "**JoJo**" **Siwa** (born May 19, 2003) is an American dancer, singer, actress, and YouTube personality. She is known for appearing for two seasons on *Dance Moms* along with her mother, Jessalynn Siwa, and for her singles "Boomerang" and "Kid in a Candy Store". Siwa posts daily videos of her day-to-day life on her YouTube channel, "Its JoJo Siwa". She was included on *Time*'s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020.

# Early life and career

Joelle Joanie Siwa was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 19, 2003, to Jessalynn Siwa (*née* Lombardi), a professional dance instructor from Iowa, and Tom Siwa, a chiropractor from Nebraska. She has one sibling, an older brother named Jayden Siwa, who is also a vlogger.

Siwa started her career as a top-5 finalist and the youngest contestant on the second season of *Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition*, produced by Abby Lee Miller of *Dance Moms* fame. She appeared on the show with her mother and was eliminated in week 9. Siwa soon began to appear on *Dance Moms*, beginning with auditioning for Miller's "ALDC" dance competition team in 2014 and being selected for the team in early 2015.

In May 2016, Siwa released "Boomerang" for download and a previous single, "I Can Make U Dance." "Boomerang" addresses the subject of online bullying. Its video has been viewed more than 900 million times and received over 2.5 million likes. In 2018, Siwa was named the Breakout Artist of the Year by Vivid Seats.

In 2018, Siwa announced that she would be going on her first major concert tour in 2019, entitled D.R.E.A.M. The Tour. She was scheduled to visit a mixture of theaters, outdoor amphitheaters and stadiums, as well as indoor arenas in a total of 52 cities across the United States and Canada. Additionally, other performances would take place in the United Kingdom and Australia. The tour was scheduled to begin in Phoenix, Arizona on May 17. The first leg of the tour was scheduled to conclude on June 26 in Austin, Texas, before resuming for leg two on July 10 in Orlando, Florida. The final date of the second leg is scheduled to be on August 20 in Vancouver, Canada. She was included on *Time*'s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world in September 2020.

# Other ventures

Known to audiences for wearing large, colorful bows in her hair, Siwa released a line of bows in 2016: JoJo's Bows, to be sold at Claire's, a fashion-accessory company aimed at 6-to-12-year-old girls. Her bows found a strong following among primary-school pupils in the United Kingdom. They were ultimately subject to bans as teachers discovered that students unable to afford the bows, which retail for approximately £8 to £12 each, were bullied by their peers. Other reasons these schools gave for the bans were distraction, harmed students' concentration, and violated the schools' dress code policies. Due to the bows' price and popularity, some stores began selling similar, homemade bows. In 2017 Siwa, whose bows are featured heavily in her music videos and general wardrobe, said they are a "symbol of power, confidence, believing-ness."

Siwa subsequently partnered with the American department store J. C. Penney to release a line of accessories, bedroom decor, and a doll made in her likeness and has released several books aimed at young children.

In June 2019, the FDA issued a warning about dangerous levels of asbestos in a JoJo Siwa-branded cosmetics kit, prompting Claire's to recall the product.

Siwa signed with Nickelodeon in 2017. She was in the film *Blurt!* with Jace Norman and the show *Lip Sync Battle Shorties* with Nick Cannon.

Siwa later appeared in season 3 of *The Masked Singer* portraying T-Rex. At the age of 16, she is the youngest contestant to appear on the show.

In January 2021, Spin Master created a card game called "JoJo’s Juice" which contained questions about nudity and theft despite being marketed toward children ages 6 and older. Siwa later apologized and claimed she was not involved in the game's content development; the game was recalled from all toy store shelves.

# Personal life

Siwa was in a relationship with TikTok star Mark Bontempo from August to November 2020. She came out as being in the LGBTQ+ community on social media in January 2021. After being asked what her label was by a fan, Siwa stated that she is not labelling her sexuality as she "doesn't really know this answer". In February 2021, she revealed that she is in a relationship with her best friend who asked her to be her girlfriend a month prior.

# Bibliography

* *JoJo's Guide to the Sweet Life: #PeaceOutHaterz* (2017)
* *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)
* *The Posh Puppy Pageant (JoJo and BowBow Book #3)* (2019)