Facing her challenges! JoJo Siwa may have prior dance experience, but she doesn’t consider it helpful as she prepares to compete on season 30 of Dancing With the Stars.

“I’m not gonna hide that I’m a dancer. I was a dancer my whole life,” Siwa, 18, told Entertainment Tonight on Monday, August 30. “Am I very out of practice? Absolutely. I perform all the time, but it’s different, you know? I don’t have to strengthen my legs, and ballroom is different. I’ve never taken ballroom.”

After the singer was announced as one of the contestants for the upcoming season of DWTS, some fans questioned whether Siwa’s past on Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition and her involvement in Dance Moms makes her too experienced for her new gig.

While the performer admitted that her experience will “help me in a way,” she also acknowledged that she will be at a “disadvantage.”

“I guarantee you the judges are one hundred million percent gonna judge me harder than they do everybody else,” she noted to ET.

Siwa, who starts rehearsals on Tuesday, August 31, listed Jenna Johnson, Britt Stewart and Lindsay Arnold among her favorite professional dancers after making history as the first contestant to compete with a same-sex partner.

“I am so excited to be a part of Dancing With the Stars season 30. And to be dancing with a girl I think it’s so cool,” Siwa, who is dating Kylie Prew, said via the show’s Instagram account on August 26. “It’s going to be the best ever. I can’t wait to just dance every week. I can’t wait to meet my partner. Oh, my gosh, there are so many things I’m so excited for.”

The YouTube personality shared how “proud” she is of the opportunity after coming out as LGBTQ+ in January.

“When I read the email it was like, ‘Would JoJo prefer to dance with a girl or with a boy?’ And I was like, ‘Wait, that’s an option? Let’s absolutely do it!'” the former reality star said on Monday. “It was a like, ‘Whoa, I’m changing the future’ [moment], because I have such a kid demographic. It’s making it acceptable.”

The Dance Moms alum previously came out on social media after she posted a photo of her wearing a shirt that that read, “Best. Gay. Cousin. Ever.”

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Yana Grebenyuk