Skai Jackson Dedicates Dancing with the Stars Dance to Late Actor Cameron Boyce

Skai+Jackson+on+Dancing+With+The+Stars.+Courtesy+of+dailymail.co.uk+

Skai Jackson on Dancing With The Stars. Courtesy of dailymail.co.uk

Debbie Phillips, Entertainment Editor

Despite the lack of an audience due to social distancing, if there were an audience, not a single eye in the house would be dry on last Monday on Dancing with the Stars after Skai Jackson’s tribute dance to late Disney channel co-star Cameron Boyce. The dance even brought the judges all the tears.

Jackson danced a foxtrot to John Legend’s song “Ordinary People” with her partner Alan Bersten. Together, Jackson and Bersten received the first 10 of the season, a huge breakthrough as two weeks prior, she had the lowest evening score due to a fumble during the dance. The total score of the night was a 28/30 as the judges’ quote, “it was the embodiment of grace and elegance.”

Jackson also admits that she thinks about Boyce, who died of epilepsy in 2019 daily, as “he had helped mold her into the person she is today.” The two had starred on Disney channel original Jessie, centered around Debby Ryan, who played a young nanny to an affluent New York family. Jackson and Boyce played two of the four children in the family.

Boyce himself, as an actor, had stared in countless T.V. shows and movies, including Grown Ups and Grown Ups 2, but he was also a professional dancer and a member of dancing crew X Mob. Boyce had even made an appearance on Dancing with the Stars as a background dancer in 2011. In part of Jackson’s tribute, she explains that “I know that he would be really proud of me. I know that he loved Dancing with the Stars and he loved dancing. I just want to show him that this dance is for him.”

If Jackson continues to show the same passion she did last Monday, the competition is hers for the taking. Jackson has the elegance, technique, and drive to take herself to the finals despite being weeks away. Even though she is the youngest contestant this season, her maturity also makes her a great competitor that should not be taken for granted.