AUDC TO SPECIAL FORCES - ALL OF THE ELIMINATIONS

JoJo breaks down all SEVEN of her elimination show appearances! 
Which elimination was hardest? What's her biggest regret? 
Plus, which elimination still makes her cry? 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Jojasua Now with me Jojo Siua and
iHeartRadio podcast. Oh, welcome back to Jojasan Now. I am
still at my apartment in Atlanta. I'm still here, still
buckled down, still film and so you think you can dance,
And let me just say, it has been amazing. We

(00:24):
are we are about halfway through right now. We are
on week four. This is week four, and we got
next week and then it's the finale. So basically basically
halfway a little bit over halfway, and it's it's been amazing.
But what's interesting is being on this side of an
elimination show. So I my whole life I started actually

(00:46):
on an elimination show TV show, Abbey's Ultimate Dance Competition,
and then, you know, after that show, I was like,
I'm never gonna do an elimination show again. It's way
too stressful. And since then I have been a part
of so many elimination TV shows and it's all they've
They've all been somehow my favorite, except for Dance Moms,
because Dance Foms is also one of my favorites, but

(01:08):
that was not an elimination TV show. Havis also been
dance a Competition, Mass Singer, Dancing with the Stars, Special Forces.
All of these TV shows have been such a massive
part of not only my career, but such a massive
part of who I am, and they've really shaped me
to be the person that I am. But the funny

(01:30):
thing is with me and elimination shows, I have never won.
I have never made it to the end. I okay,
that's a lie, because Dancing and the Stars are made
it to the end. But he did not win. I
somehow always get eliminated. So today I'm gonna go through
talk about all the elimination shows I've been a part
of and talk about the eliminations of those shows. But

(01:52):
then also on the flip side, talk a little bit
about See You as Dance Pop Revolution, which is where
we found mamma ized girl group XOMG Pop. And I
was on the other side of the elimination process. I
was the one who was doing the Eliminate teing. I
was not the Eliminate tour and then America's Got Talent,
where on that side of things, I was more of

(02:13):
my girl group's mentor and the choreographer and their creative
director versus me actually being the one competing. So kind
of living vicariously through them was a very interesting process.
And now most recently So You Think you Can Dance.
I was a judge last season on So You Think
you Can Dance, and this season I am a judge again,
which has been so wonderful, And I'm currently in the

(02:36):
process of the judging right now. We are getting close
to the finale and so it's very very hot, fresh
on my mind. So I'm excited to get to talk
about that. But I feel like to start this, we
got to go all the way back to the beginning.
We are going to Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition AUDC for short.
Season one, I watched the show, I was not a

(02:59):
part of the show, and then season two I got
cast into be on the show. I kind of knew
what I was getting myself into because I did watch
season one. So basically the premise of the show is
twelve ten to twelve dancers from all over the country
get flown to Los Angeles to be a part of
quite literally, Abby lea her Ultimate Dance Competition, and every

(03:22):
week we had a group dance challenge and then you
would get assigned your dances and then starting like oh gosh,
maybe maybe week, like six or seven, we started to
do a group dance as well as as well as
our dances that we were just normally assigned, which was
either a solo, a duo, or a trio. We added

(03:42):
in a group dance, but the group dances never aired.
There's a few of them that are on YouTube. But
I did three four four group dances that never aired,
never made it to TV, which is kind of sucking
because they were pretty lit. I'm not gonna lie because
I thought they were lit anyways. So being on ADC,
I didn't know what I was getting myself into. But

(04:04):
I was very, very young, and so I was very naive.
I was very I was very green. I mean I
was only nine years old and it was my first
TV show experience ever, and so there was a lot
that I didn't know going into it. But I think
one of the best things is all of us were
that way. There was none of us had worked in
Hollywood before, none of us had really had a TV

(04:27):
experience before. We were all just kids from random places
in the country with our moms being now a part
of this massive TV show, and so getting there was hard,
of course, but then once we were there, it was
the most wild experience ever. I think now I just
kind of know what I'm getting myself into when I

(04:49):
when I go to do a TV show. But with
AUDC being my absolute first, I mean, everything was new.
I didn't know what it meant to go to Crafty.
What's crafty? Crafty is where like all the food is,
Like there was just so much that I didn't know
whereas now one said, I'd be like, hey, oh, can
we take a trip Crafty? You know what I mean? Like,
It's just there was so much new and so anyways

(05:14):
cut to we are in Well, I should make something
very clear. I did not have an easy journey on
Abbey's Ultimate Dance Competition. I was the youngest, and so
therefore I was like just the least experienced by age default.
But then also you know, dance wise as well, I
was more the like personality spunky one that brought the

(05:35):
fun versus like one of the better dancers. I was
definitely not one of the better dancers, and it definitely
a my age had a disadvantage, but be just my
skill had a disadvantage as well, and so it was
not an easy ride. There was a lot of weeks
where I definitely thought I was going to go home,
and definitely thought like it was my time, because at

(05:56):
the end of every week, after you did all this,
somebody went home each week until they're left with one
dancer's standing. Uh. And for me, I mean there was
there was like two or three weeks where I knew
I wasn't going home. Like the first week, I knew
that I did good. Second week, I knew that I
did good U when I did my Rapunzel solo. I
knew I did good when I which was that was

(06:17):
week five or week six? Oh gosh, I wonder if
I can remember all these Okay, Week one, I did
the Gene Kelly duet that when I knew I was good,
like knew I wasn't going home, and we were fine.
We too. I did a trio with the two Twin
Boys it was twin boys on the show, Travis and Tyler,
and we did a trio and that did really good.
They loved that, so we knew where we weren't going home.
Week three, I did a dance called Hades and the

(06:39):
Lost Souls, and I was Hades and I did not
know what Hades was, and little me I was like
so I'm I like a nevil type thing, and uh
the choreographer was like, yeah, sure. It was like, okay, sick,
it is so silly. I didn't do great that week,
but it still was very early in the competition, and
so I was I was like, I was pretty chilling.

(07:01):
I was like something going home. We're pretty slim, but like,
I definitely was like one of the worst that week.
And then the next week we did this. It was
unconventional week and we did this like pirate dance. That
dance freaking Nail loved that dance was very good that week.
All of us were on that dance, so we were
safe that week. Next week, oh gosh. Next week is
when we did Newsies, I think, and I was awful.

(07:21):
I was so bad. I was so bad during Newsy.
It's definitely thought I was going home, even Abby, because
it was Broadway week and Abby said something to me.
She was like, you know, one of my favorites is
the Goodbye Girl Goodbye. And I was like ah, and
she she was like, go back over there with your mother.

(07:43):
We'll see you next week. And I was like that
was so mean. And then the next week was the
Magician week. I think it was Vegas Week. Maybe Vegas.
I think Vegas might have been flip flopped with Broadway.
Doesn't matter. No, actually it doesn't matter, and they were
definitely flip flopped either way. Vegas Week, I was a
bird and it was in a duo, and that what

(08:03):
was so bad. I really thought I was gonna go
home that week At eliminations. Abby said to me, she said, uh,
you know, Jojo, you're a bird this week. Bye bye, Bertie.
What that me thinking I'm going home? And she goes,
go fly back over there with your mother, And I
was like, oh my god. Like Abby was good at
tricking me. Uh. Then the next week was my Rapunzel Dance. Nailed.

(08:26):
Rapunzel was not going home. I was the I was
number one that week finally for the first time, first
and only time after that, gosh, after that, I think
it was maybe like America Week. Western Week sucked. That
week definitely thought I was going home. After that was
Diva Week. Somehow the Diva of the show went home
on Diva Week. It definitely happened. Oh no, there was

(08:46):
Nightmares in there too, so it went Western Nightmare and nailed.
Nightmare was not going home. Nightmare Week for short and
then the next week was Diva Week, so I was
there for a long time. We did a lot of dances.
It was a long process. But then come to Diva Week.
This I thought I had this week in the bag.
I'm not gonna lie nine year old me. It was like, oh,
it's Deva Week. No, this is my week, like you

(09:08):
here we go. I got this, and even everybody else
on set was like, yo, it's Diva Week, Like this
is your shit? Like here you go. And so we
go through Diva Week and we kind of just like
the vibe on competition day, like it just wasn't there.
And now, knowing what I know about elimination shows, I

(09:29):
think the thing is is like the judges really do
have the real est say, which is something that is
kind of crazy because I think a lot of times
people think like, oh, there's producers and oh there's network,
And while that is true, Yes there is producers, Yes
there is network. There is a reason why there are
judges there. And I I I've actually since AUDC had

(09:51):
become very very close obviously to Abby but then uh
to Richie Jackson. Also Rachelle was one of the judges
who I love very very much. But Richie Jackson, he
was a judge on that show, and I talked to
him all the time about that judging process on that
show and how it was for them, because you know,
it's different on a show, but it was a very
healthy judging process, which is very good. And I also

(10:15):
give Richie shit all the time. Now, I'm like, you
could have saved your callback card for me. And because
so Richie does all my choreography now, so he's my choreographer,
he's my creative director. And so I've known Ritchie now
for eleven years, which is just crazy. But he's the
best and I love that man very much. He does
all of Lady Gaga's choreography and creative direction for the

(10:36):
last decade plus, so he's I mean, he's incredible. Anyway,
So eliminations on ADC no joke, because it was not
a live show, took about three hours. We worked definitely
illegal hours on that set for sure. None of us
knew laws, so none of us said anything, none of
us cared, but it was very very illegal the amount

(10:59):
that we were working. But that's fine. Uh. So eliminations
were about three hours and literally Abby would go jojo
and then about three minutes would pass no joke, and
she'd say please step forward. Then another three minutes passage,
she'd say, Kilani, another three minutes, please step backwards, another
three minutes, and then she would do that fard backwards

(11:20):
and then she'd be like, middle row, you're safe this week,
like and then like the front line are like, well,
then what are we? And then she would be like,
back row you all were the top performers of this week,
and then front row you three are at the bottom three.
You know what I mean. So it was always a
toss up. It took so long, and then every week
she would say, to whoever's going home, she would say,

(11:40):
let's just say, for example, Travis, she would say, Travis,
today is not your day and those other words that
you never ever wanted to hear. Today is not your day.
And so cut to DIVA week, we're in eliminations. It
is down to the bottom two, and it is me
and it is Kolana. And either way it was like,

(12:01):
if Klannie goes home, I don't want to be here anymore.
And if I go home, I'm devastated because I still
want to be here. And so it's very hard because
I was either losing my best friend or losing my
favorite thing in the world, which was that show, because
Clonnie and I were very close on the show, and
Abby said the awful magic words to me. She said, Jojo,
today is not your day. And I just sobbed. I sobbed,

(12:25):
I sobbed, I sobbed, I sobbed. I couldn't even handle it.
And I still have this I just I don't. I
never was said that I didn't win the show. I
was sad that there was going to be another week
without me. I was sad that they were going to
get into another group dance challenge, they were going to
get to do another rehearsal in that space, they were

(12:47):
going to get a dance on that stage, work with
the wardrobe people, go to crafty. That was what I
was like, sad I was missing out on. And the
thing is is because I was eliminated. So I made
it to the top five of Abby's Altman the dance competition,
and normally in TV shows they bring back all of
the contestants for the finale. That's a very very common
thing to do, and so they were doing this for

(13:09):
ADC and so there was only a week that I
wasn't gonna be there because they did a top three,
and so it kind of for me was to like,
go to a hotel for a week, have fun, and
we'll see you back here in a week. So didn't
really miss on on too much, but I was crushed.
I was devastated for that week. It was just like
my whole dream was just gone. And I didn't really
know if I was ever gonna have a chance to

(13:30):
do something like that ever again. And little did I
know elimination shows were going to be my future. I
think I would have been a little less sad if
I would have known that. But anyways, cut to a
few years later. I was nine on AUDC so this
was wow. This is six years later? Five seven, seven? Seven?

(13:55):
Was I sixteen? I was sixteen? Yes, I was sixteen,
so wow, so seven. I had my tenth birthday during
the finale of Abbey's Atomin Dance Competition. So give our
take six or seven years. I was sixteen, depending on
how you'd like to look at the math. Uh. When
I was sixteen, I got a phone call being asked
to be a part of season three of The Masked Singer.

(14:17):
Now mask Singer has had ten seasons. Oh my gosh.
So I I was on in the beginning of Mass
Singer and it was still a very very new show.
It was originally it was pitched to me as a
show that they had brought over from another country. They
didn't even say like, hey, look we're doing the Mask Singer.
It's been on TV here. They were like, look, it's
a hit in another country, Like we're still trying it out.

(14:39):
Will you be a part of it? And I was
actually on tour at this time. And this was very
early on in my life. This is before I came
out of the closet. This is while I was still
on during the tour. This is very early. I got
the I got the call to do it in like
mid twenty nineteen, and then the TV show filmed very
early twenty twenty, right before COVID hit Thank Goodness and

(15:03):
Mass Singer. Man, what a show. When I got us
to do it, literally said out loud, I was like,
in my Queen obsessed phase, I was like, oh, man,
I don't know why, but I want to be a
dinosaur and I wanted to be inspired by Queen. And
I was like, I thought that'd be so cool. And
so then once I agreed to do the show, you know,
they started sending me wardrobe emails and the people and
the costumers to start talking with them, and they were like,

(15:24):
we have a few ideas for you. Here's what we
were thinking. They sent me a Ballerina mouse, they sent
me a like Narry go Around Carnival inspired popcorn, which
both of those costumes made it onto the show later
in the seasons. And then they sent the t Rex.
And the t Rex was a very Renaissance inspired. It

(15:45):
was queen looking, and I was like, oh my god.
They didn't even know, like I didn't even have that
talk with them, and they just sent that. So I
was like, that's perfect. That's the one I want to
be the t Rex. And they were like, oh my gosh,
we would love that. We think that'd be such a
cool look for you. And I was like, sick, great,
And that was actually that was my first experience. Oh gosh,
I hope someone doesn't correct me. I hope I don't.

(16:06):
I hope I'm not wrong on this. But that was
my first time working with Fox, and now I am
on my seventh Fox TV show. I don't think I
ever thought I was gonna be able to say that
I've been a part of seven Fox TV shows, but
the Mask Singer is what started it all. So being
on the Mask Singer was so cool, so fun. You
have to stay super duper hidden. You are wearing masks

(16:28):
the whole time. You're wearing gloves, so they can't even
see no one on second see your skin color. It
is very very secretive. You're wearing a hoodie that says
don't talk to me. You're there's producers on set that
know who you are, and they wear shirts that say
you can talk to me, and that means that I
could like vocalize them, but I can't even take my
mask off. Like it's crazy secret. On Mask Singer, I

(16:59):
got pitched to new Mass Singer. They pitched me three
songs and they were like, what are like three of
your favorite songs? Give us like nine songs, but I
give us your top three. So give them a list
of songs and uh so what Jiho and uh Push
It by Salt and Peppa those three other ones that
made it onto the show. I remember my last option,
my like number four option was Boogie Shoes, which actually

(17:22):
we ended up doing on CEO's Dance Pop Revolution. But anyways,
so we did. I did those three songs, had a Blast,
had a Ball. It came time for eliminations MASSA. It
was done in like tiers, So there was like Group ABC,
and each group had six contestants, and then from those

(17:42):
six went to three, and then those nine contestants went
against each other and then those four conducts like they like.
It's very tiered how they did it. And so I
made it to the very end of my first tier,
and I, unfortunately was eliminated. Now here's what here's what
got me. I actually I was very sad with mass Singer.

(18:03):
I was very very sad. I'm gonna I'm gonna go
a little out of order here. I really enjoyed the
process of that show. I loved what it did for me,
what it did for my confidence. It was interesting. It
kind of tricked me into being okay with singing because
I had no choice but to sing, and I had

(18:24):
no choice but to take vocal lessons while during that show.
And vocal lessons are something that really messed with my insecurities,
and so that's one of the reasons why I avoid them,
although I've I dabbled into them a little bit. In
twenty twenty thirty, but I've since then I avoided them again.
But with mass singer to do the show, I had
to agree to doing vocal lessons and just so that

(18:46):
way my voice stayed protected, and so that way, nothing
happened while I was on the show, which is very understandable.
And then there's this one mic guy. I can't remember
his name right now, but I see him all the
time on sets, and he's the guy that would come
in and he give me my in ears. And one
day he came in and I'll never forget this, and
he was like just a little sad. He was just
a little bummed out. And I remember asking him and

(19:09):
be like, yo, what's wrong and he was like, it's
just a day. He's like something's going on, but it's
just a day. And I was like, all right, well,
let's figure out how to make today happy. And so
then him and I talked for a little bit and
I was, I mean sixteen at the time. He was
probably thirty twenty six to thirty, you know what I mean.
And so then every day he would come in and
I would say you happy today, and he would come

(19:29):
in and say are you happy today? And now, I mean,
here we are six years later. Nope, that's a lie.
Five years later almost, and he'll still come up to
me on sid and be like, Yo, you're happy today,
and it's really cute. Also, my in years that I have,
not the ones that I'm wearing right now, but the
ones that I have back at home I have. I
have a lot of indiars. I have like probably twelve ten, ten,

(19:51):
twelve pairs of inyears, but the ones that I wore
a mask singer. The case still says t rex on
him because they had to cover up my name and
put t rex on him instead of been saying my
case saying Joe resiwa. So I saw that little piece
of tape that says t rex on them. They're like
a little comfort Anyways, Mass Singer was kind of the
same thing as AUDC, where I just was sad about
losing the process. I was sad about losing the rehearsals.

(20:12):
I was sad about getting into my eighteen layered costume
for the last time. Yes, that costume had eighteen freaking layers.
I feel like I could do a whole podcast about
the mask singer and the process of it. I think
that'd be a really fun podcast to do, but to
stay specifically on the topic of eliminations again, it was
just that's so sad to lose the process. And so

(20:33):
we're on stage and they said the person being unmasked
is Nick Cannon said the two Rex, and I under
my mask started sobbing. I was so devastated. And the
thing about mass singer is after you get eliminated, you
take your mask off and then you perform again. And
I was just like, so sad, so sobbing. It was Oh,

(20:56):
I was so sad. And then I went back to
my trailer and my producer, who was amazing, she looked
at me and she was like, I've never cried for
anyone leaving this show, and I am sobbing right now.
And I was like, no, that's not making me feel
any better. And then I went home and I cried
and cried and cried and cried. I have this really

(21:17):
funny video of me and it's literally me in like
a puddle of tears because I was like leaning off
my bed and just letting the tears drop and there
was just a poddle of them. Oh, it was so sad. Ah, Okay,
I'm gonna start crying anything about it. Actually, two of
the clips in the world that can make me sob
is from ABC My Elimination and from Mass Singer My Elimination.

(21:39):
There is this brutal clip from a Mass Singer. I
will cry thinking about it if I think about it
too much, So I'm gonna get through this quick. But
it's basically me doing my like post show interview, and
then they bring in my mask. They bring in the
t rex head behind me, and they're like, do you
want to say goodbye to anybody? And I was like,
yeah to all the crew, but a little of everyone,
and they're like, but what about the thing behind you?

(21:59):
And I just started sobbing. I was like, why should
do that to me? Thoughts, I will cry if I
watch it. It's sometimes for jobs, I need to cry
on command and I definitely watch that clip. I need
how I need to crown Command. Anyways, Okay, I gotta
change the subject because I don't want to cry right now.
She was Dance Pop Revolution. So this was the first

(22:20):
time that I was going to be on the other
side of elimination show, so I was gonna be the
one actually making the decisions. So the thing with se
was dance Poper revolution Is. We searched high and low,
thousands of submissions from all over the country. I think
we even had a few internationals because I remember some
UK and in Australia. But anyways, we had a bunch

(22:41):
of submissions. We were looking to start a girl group,
and so many submissions, and then we narrowed it down
to twenty two that we did a twenty two person
in person audition, and then we did a Oh man,
did we start with? I think we started with eleven, twelve, twelve, eleven, eleven, twelve, twelve, eleven,
let me okay, hold on, let's do some math. Okay.

(23:03):
There was Brooklyn, Dallas, tiny T, there was uh Kaya Leah, Bella, Kinley, Tatum, Layle, Sadie, Emily.
I don't think I'm missing any am I missing anyone.

(23:24):
I don't think so, Layle, Sadie, Emily Tatum, Leah, Brooklyn,
Kaya Bella, Kinley, tiny T, Dallas, eleven. There was eleven.
I remember all of them. I remember everybody so seriously.
As Puper Revolution, we started with eleven, and truly, when
we started the show, we didn't actually know how many

(23:46):
members we wanted in the girl group. We loved the
number of four. We liked the number of five, We
like the number of seven, we like the number of six.
We kind of we kind of liked all of the numbers,
and it was it was kind of a fun, fun,
fun experience. I being on the other side of it
and getting to so I did all the choreography on
that show, but then also you know, getting to work

(24:07):
with the kids and seeing them in rehearsals and seeing
their work ethic and seeing their ability to see if
they enjoy it or if you know, their mom is
forcing them to be there, because that is that's a
very common thing, especially in the dance world that you see,
and so I was very cautious about that. And we
started off to see his dance pop with just dancing,

(24:30):
and then we added the singing element in and it
was really fun. It was me, my mom and Luke,
and Luke's kind of the vocal side. I was kind
of the dance side, and my mom was kind of
like the like captain of it all. And that show.
That show was a blast. Getting into the choreography was
so fun. The kids and I always had fun and rehearsals,
of course, it was a lot of hard work. There

(24:52):
was a lot of days where I showed up to
the studio very very early. I was still young on
this show as while I was I was eighteen, and
this was right after I had come out, So I
came out when I was like seventeen. Then I went
to film the J Team, and then as soon as
I came home from the J Team, it was my
eighteenth birthday, and then like the next day we started
filming s she was Dance Pop Revolution. And so there

(25:15):
was a lot of days though where I would show
up at six in the morning and I wouldn't leave
until eleven pm at night and do it all again
the next day. And that was just because I would
need to get into the studio to prep choreography before
the kids would come, and then after the kids would leave,
there would be like my obligations that I would have

(25:36):
to do, you know what I mean, for me and
for my career, and so it was a lot. And
then of course, you know, when working with kids in Hollywood,
there's a lot of child labor laws that you have
to follow that I know like the back of my
hand because growing up with them, I know them very
very very well, and I knew that the day that
they switched for me, cause there it's based off your age,
and so I remember being a teenager. I think I

(25:59):
was maybe twelve, and my hours switched because you can
go from working a seven and a half hour day
to a nine and a half hour day or an
eight and half to nine and a half. I don't remember.
It was a little bit long ago that change happened
for me, but I remember when that happened. And anyways,
child laws I know like the back of my hand.
And so of course with the kids on set, you know,
you get a few hours of rehearsal and then they
got to take a break, and then you get a
few hours again and they gotta take a break, and

(26:20):
then uh during dance pop. I believe, I believe we
didn't start in the summertime, but then like mid season,
it ended up being summertime. So when it's school time
on set, you know, the kids do three hours of
school with a set teacher, and that's off camera. That
is just to make sure that the kids are getting
their required school in and then most of them could

(26:41):
work based on their age, most of them could work
an eight and a half hour day. But we did
have one that could only work a six and a
half hour day, and that was okay. I mean, you
just gotta you just gotta do what you gotta do,
and you don't want to overwork, of course, but to
get a dance on stage in three days with barely
any time was all ready hard, and then now you're

(27:01):
putting a super super time restraint on it. It was.
It was always tricky, and every week brought its new
juggles of challenges. I remember the uh it was like
the second to last week, I had less time than normal.
I had two days instead of three days, and I
had to do eight numbers. And I was like, oh, oh,
this is cute. We're doing eight numbers. Got it eight

(27:23):
numbers in two days. And at this point, I mean, yes,
we were probably six weeks into the show, but like
six weeks is still it's still a new group of kids.
They don't really know each other that well yet. Their
dynamic is still new. My dynamic with them is still new.
We're all still getting to know each other. And it's, uh,
that was I'll never forget learning those eight dances. That

(27:44):
was that was normally, that was normally, But we got
it done. The kids got it on stage. The kids.
It was so special about seas Dance Proper Revolution is
the kids always pulled it off. It was always chaos,
their mamas were always chaos, but uh, they always pulled
it off. And I am so proud of all eleven
kids that stepped foot on Sea's Dance Pop Revolution. They

(28:07):
all are so special. They all, whether they made it
into the group or not, are off doing amazing things.
I love following along on their journeys. I love watching
as an outsider getting to be the tiniest little piece
of their story. Even the kids currently that are in
xom J pop like just getting to be a little
piece of their story and to help them and to
grow them. It's it's just it's been a really cool,

(28:29):
fulfilling feeling. And now to talk about the eliminations on
that show, that was always so hard getting into the
elimination process. You know, me, my mom, it was always
our final say. But of course, you know producers, and
we were producers on the show, and so we were
looking at things from all different angles. But it was

(28:49):
always really hard because I was always coming from a
perspective of I've been the kid, I know what they
were going through I know how much they enjoyed rehearsals.
I know how much they enjoyed, you know, lunch break
in school together, and so I knew that that's what
they were sad to lose. I remember there was this
one week when Bella went home and I talked to
Bella after and I said, I know how you're feeling

(29:10):
right now. I said, you're you're you're you're not sad
about losing this, You're sad about losing the fun. And
and we had a really really good talk and I
was like, I can relate, like I know where you're
coming from. I was like, but I promise you, like
this is just a little piece of your journey. And
so the eliminations on that show were always just so

(29:31):
so tough. But the Mella ended up coming back, which
was which was pretty cool. That was pretty fun. Uh.
And then yeah, the the kiddos from the show made
into the group, and now we have this awesome little
girl group XOMG Pop. They're so cool, so fun. They're
going on tour this summer. They got the coolest little songs.
It as hard as it was dealing with eliminations, it

(29:52):
was worth it for the group. That we ended up with.
They're all superstars and like I said before, just getting
to be a little teeny part of their journey. It
has just been great. But yeah, being on the other
side for the first time was definitely definitely strange. Now,

(30:16):
the one that I'm probably see it's between Dancing with
the Stars and Special Forces, which one I'm most excited
to talk about. But let's do Dancing with the Stars.
Because I got the call to be on Dancing with
the Stars while I was actually a sea was Dance
Pop Revolution, and literally the scheduling just worked out. Dance
Pop ended two days later Dancing with the Stars started.
So my, my twenty twenty one was absolutely nuts. I

(30:41):
literally went from the j teen filming to Dance Pop
to Dancing with the Stars straight into Dream the Tour rehearsals,
straight on Dream the Tour Quarter one of twenty twenty two,
straight into So You Think You Can Dance Quarter two
of twenty twenty two. Like it was a nuts run
back to back, but it's so worth it. Anyways, got
the call to Dancing with the Stars, and initially this
was a few months after I came out and the

(31:03):
producer called and she said, hi, we have a great
relationship with this producer, and she said, I want Joe
to be part of Stars this season, and we were
kind of brainstorming and we have a little idea, but
we don't know if she would be uncomfortable about it,
like we want to talk to you about it, and
I was like, yeah, I haven't called me like so excited.
And they pitched the idea of doing a same sex
couple and doing a same sex partnering and I told

(31:25):
him I was like, honestly, I couldn't see it any
other way. I was like, I I'd actually probably be
uncomfortable the other way around. So I was like, this
is perfect, this is great for me. And then that
became the best weeks of my life. I think what
I love so much about Dancing with the Stars is
how long it was. But again, it was an elimination show,
and so the stress going into Dancing with the Stars

(31:47):
every single week, it was never it was never about
winning the show. It was just about being there till
the end. So I didn't miss out on anything. I
just and I told Jenna that all the time. I
was like, it's not I was like, I'm gonna of
course be sad if we don't win, but I'm gonna
be I'm gonna be distraught if we don't make it
to the end, because missing out on a week like

(32:07):
that's that is what I didn't want. I just wanted
to keep dancing. I just wanted to keep having fun.
I just wanted to keep being there with Jen. I
just I was like, it was my dream come true.
And so we survived eliminations every single week up until
the finale. We're down it's the top two. I made
it through every week. I was just stoked about that.
Then I realized, wait, I made it to the end,

(32:28):
but now I'm sad because it's just over. Instead, I
realized it's just gonna be over no matter what eventually,
and then I ended up getting second on Dancing with
the Stars. And honestly, the thing is, I never ever
expected to win Dancing with the Stars, and so I
didn't expect to win at all. But I think a
lot of people in the world expected that to happen,

(32:51):
and so it was a little hard seeing the online
reaction to things because I wasn't really ready for that.
I was like, wait, I'm just happy that I made
it to the end. Why are we still mad that
I didn't win? And I was like, I'm not even mad,
Like I'm chilling. Guys. We made it to the end.
I'm happy. I'm so happy. It could have been any
other better. But the world, the world had a lot
to say about it. But I personally am very happy
for a Mond and Daniella there who won my season

(33:13):
of Dancing with the Stars. They deserved it. A mon
deserved that, Daniella deserved it. They're both incredible people, and
very very happy for them. Little salty, but very happy
for them. Uh okay, cut to this one. This one
will be quick. Agt being on the mentor side of things.
So my girl group in early twenty twenty three, late

(33:35):
twenty twenty two, maybe late twenty twenty two, I don't know.
I think it was late twenty twenty two, they were
on America's Got Talent. That was so fun. Honestly, it
was just so chill. It was. They did two episodes.
It was so great. It was two weeks, but a
lot more prep went into it than just two weeks.
We only we weren't winning. We were just there for

(33:56):
a good time, Like we knew we had no shot. Basically,
I mean, of course me, like I let me have
my mom goggles on with the girl group, Like of course,
I thought a little bit they were gonna win, and
like their moms thought a little bit they were gonna win,
and my mom thought a little bit they were gonna win.
But like deep down we all were like, Okay, it's
not happening, but like let's just have fun, and that's
what we did. Like it was honestly best time, no stress.

(34:17):
It was just when the kids got eliminated. They were like,
can we gritty off stage if we get eliminated? And
I was like sure, like just have fun, it don't matter.
And so that was a really good time. And now
I get to talk about special Forces. This was this
was an elimination show, but it was a by choice
elimination show, and I honestly thought about walking away from

(34:40):
it all the time. Come day day one, I was
fin Day two, I was a fine, Day three I
was finday four, and day five six and seven, I
was like, all right, I could be done. I could tap,
I could be I could I could I could be
good now I could be satisfied. But it genuinely was
that fear of missing out that just kept me going.
I was like, but wait, if I would have tapped yesterday,

(35:03):
I would have missed out on this today, And as
hard and tortuous as it was, I wouldn't have wanted
to miss out on it. And so I at the
very very last minute, I mean, there was four hours
left on the clock, and I decided that it was
my time to shine, decided that I wanted to tap out,
wanted to quit. I made it to the last day.
We were close enough to the end, and I just

(35:25):
I had a whole personal epiphany. I wanted to start
living my life more. And I was like, you know
what if I'm gonna start doing that, I'm gonna start
doing it right here, right now, and I am going
to leave and see him. I'm gonna quit. And now
after that, I I do. In the beginning, I didn't
have any regret when tapping out of the show for

(35:47):
the first few few months. Honestly, it wasn't until recently,
maybe a few months ago, maybe like two or three
months ago, where I was like, shit, I wish I
would have just finished, Like I was right there, Why
I have to have the epiphany, like you could have
started living your life in four hours you could have help,
you could have you could have literally done that in
four hours. Why did you feel the need to do
it right then and there? But I mean it doesn't

(36:09):
make sense. I do know why I did. But I
think again, I've just grown so much even just since
then and sense that elimination process and uh, since I
left the show, since I left for a selection. Uh,
And so for me, I definitely have regret. I definitely,
especially after watching the finale of the show and how
it ended. I wish I would have gone through that

(36:29):
with the boys, Nick and Tyler and uh Aaron as well.
I think that would have been like really a really interesting,
even further bond than we already have. But I mean,
I'm so proud of my journey on that show, and
I did walk away for a reason. But at the
same time, the fomo in me is just like I

(36:52):
wish I would have experienced it so bad, but uh,
but I did it. I walked away, and it was
a good choice. It was for my own personal benefit,
that is what it is. And now I am back
on the other side of the eliminations. I am now
a part of this season of So You Think You
Can Dance? Season eighteen. I was also a part. I

(37:13):
can talk a little bit more about Season seventeen. I'm
say you Thinking and Dance, because that has all been aired.
I got to judge season seventeen with Twitch and Uh
with Lea Remedy, and that was I mean, that season
was so you think you can dance was so so incredible.
The dancers and the talent that we saw in the auditions,

(37:34):
then in the top twenty, and then in the top ten.
I mean, it was just insane. Actually, I went on
the winner of that show. The day that she won,
I went on stage. We got to talk to them
after and I went on stage and I talked to
her and I said, I have this special, special thing
that I've been working on, and you are the person

(37:55):
that I need to be in it. And I said,
I would love to have you as a part of
this project. This was this was in the beginning of
this is like quarter two of twenty twenty two, and
I said, this project is very far away, but we're
starting it. We're starting it now, and you are the
perfect person. You are exactly who I envisioned to do

(38:16):
this with. And she instantly was like, oh my gosh,
I would love that I would be so down, please like, yes,
count me in. And so her name is Alexis, and
she is who won last season of So You Think
you Can Dance. And I've gone on to hire a
bunch of the cast of season seventeen of So You
Think You Can Dance. But this one special project I

(38:37):
just had been like saving Alexis for and then cut
to it. Actually, I'm gonna tell a little bit of
a story because this is a good one. It came
time for this special project at the very end of
twenty twenty three and I had a big dancer audition
and I don't know why, it didn't even cross my
mind just yet, but I had a girl audition and

(38:58):
a bunch of girls came and Alexis did come to
the audition, and I was like, none of these girls
are just like the right vibe, Like it's just not
it's not it's not right. And then we were in
a meeting and my mom asked me. She was like, wait,
what about what about Alexis? And I was like, oh, wait,
you're so right. And then literally that night I checked
my phone and she had texted me being like I

(39:19):
had no idea there was an audition. She's like, because
Alexis is very She's like, she's like my little indie
Vidi Angel. She's she's like five two and the audition
was like five five and taller, and so she was like,
I didn't get the audition because of the height requirement.
She was like, but if there's anything like she didn't
even know it was for that specific project, but she
was like, if you're ever doing anything, like you know,

(39:40):
I'm down, like count me in. And I was like, no, dude,
it is the project that I told you about a
year and a half ago. I was like, it's finally happening.
And I was like, can you come to the studio
tomorrow night so we can just like dance together and
like see if it's a vibe and long story short,
it was a vibe. You will see that a little
bit later hopefully. Yeah, it's been a long project in

(40:01):
the works, but that is that's it's the coolest special
story to me because that is something that came from
so you think you can dance And now this season
I can truly talk about like the judging and being
on this side of the eliminations because it is happening
live in real time. I not today, not tomorrow, but

(40:22):
the next day I will be on set doing this again.
I will be we have to send somebody home. And
it's it's so hard because at this point everyone is
so talented. And I think that's something that I've had
to remember with me personally on elimination shows is once
you get to this point, you're it's it is what

(40:42):
it is. You know what I mean. You made it
to the end, you made it to you made it
to the show, you made it to the good stuff,
and now you just have to enjoy the ride. But
it's interesting because I look at these contestants, so you
think you can dance, and I see nine year old
me in them. It is their first TV show, so
it is stressful. It's an elimination show. They're learning new dances.

(41:04):
It's it's so hard, and I see that in this
incredible group of dancers that is now competing on Safety
Can Dance Season eighteen. Cast is absolutely unreal. I came
into the show after they had casted, and and so
I just was in a world of the best dancers

(41:26):
in this country. It is so insane how talented they are.
What they've produced each week is unlike any season ever before.
It's a whole new format this season, and so judging
criteria is a lot different and it's a lot more
involved and a lot more serious than just like watch
a dance, give some comments and like call it a day.

(41:47):
It is very much so a serious, serious, serious process.
And there's massive deliberations. I mean, the first week that
we filmed So you Think you Can Dance, we deliberated
for three hours. We were in the judges deliberation room
for three hours just going over everything, what we thought,

(42:07):
what we what we saw, what we didn't see, and
like just going back and forth and back and forth.
Three hours. That is the longest deliberation literally ever. And
uh since then, it's been about an hour and a
half to two hours for each deliberation. But yeah, it's
I think one thing that I've learned being on the
judges side of things is there is no easy answer

(42:30):
on an elimination show. There is no clear answer. There
is no clear this person's going home, this person's staying.
It is it is, There's so much that goes into it,
and it makes me truly reflect back on my past
being like Okay, why did this happen? Why did that happen?
Why Why did I go home that on Mastering? Or
why did I go home that on a UDC? And
it's it's about so much, and it's it's so it's

(42:54):
so cool to me. I think what's cool to me
is the only show that I've ever had in my
control was Special Forces. And I still made the choice.
I still made the choice to not win. I just
can't win an elimination show. Man. One day, one day,
I actually I got asked to do an elimination show
that was out of the country and it would have

(43:16):
crossed over filming with So You Think You Can Dance.
I wasn't able to accept the offer, but I'm so
excited to do it, and I told my family. I
was like, well, it goes for twelve weeks, but all
for sure only be there max eleven because we all
know I won't win. And so now it's like a
running joke in the family that like, I just no
matter what, I can't win an elimination show. But I

(43:39):
have one at life because I have a good little
life and I've got good people around me, and I
can't complain. I can't complain. It's just a funny joke,
so take it with a grain of salt. Anyways, that
was pretty much my debunk on my elimination shows and eliminations,
and I feel like that was very therapeutic for me
to talk about it. I'm not gonna lie. I am

(44:00):
very very happy that I got to get this out.
So thank you for listening to my elimination show rant.
If you enjoyed, be sure to listen to more jojos
Woa Now is because it's honestly, if you just want
to hear a twenty year old ramble, that is what
this podcast is, and it's pretty fun. I've had some
fun experiences in life, and I'm having some fun experiences
now that I'm living and discovering and figuring out. It's

(44:22):
a It's been a good little journey, so be sure
to keep listening. I love y'all and I'll see you
next time. Deoces, thank you so much for listening. Everybody.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram and TikTok at
Jojosa Now podcast. Be sure to write us a review
and maybe if you're feeling to leave us five stars.
I'll see you next week.