JoJo Siwa Made History With Her First “Dancing With the Stars Performance”

On Monday night, September 20th, 2021, “Dancing With the Stars” had an exciting premiere. Viewers had to wait until the end to watch JoJo Siwa dance with professional dancer Jenna Johnson, but it was well worth the wait, as they had the best score of the night. Host Tyra Banks said of the performance, “JoJo, you’re changing the world. You’re a leader. There are little kids looking up to you, like, ‘Oh, my gosh. If she can be herself, I can.'” Siwa responded, telling Tyra, “What I love to do is make truly being who you are easier for kids.”

Judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough, Bruno Tonioli, and Len Goodman gave the duo a score of 8, 7, 7, and 7 for a total of 29 out of 40 points. They danced the quickstep to the song “Are You Gonna Be My Girl” by Jet, a fitting song for the first same-gender dance partnership on the show. Len Goodman called it a dance that was “full of enthusiasm,” and Hough proclaimed that Siwa was “born for ‘Dancing With the Stars.'”

There was some drama during the dance, however. Johnson slipped, but Siwa swiftly lifted her to make it look like a dip instead of a mishap. The judges recognized that it was a good recovery, and the mishap did not stop the duo from receiving the night’s highest score. The video of Siwa and Johnson’s performance is currently trending on YouTube and can be watched here.

New episodes of “Dancing With the Stars” air every Monday night at 8:00 PM Eastern Time on ABC and can be streamed on Hulu.