March 5, 2024 • 32 mins
JoJo breaks down her first reality TV show...Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition! She reveals how she got cast, why she was left out of friend groups, and Abby's first impression of her!
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Jojassee one now with me Jojo Seua
and iHeartRadio podcast. Welcome back to Jojo See One Now.
I feel like I should do a whole episode in
an accent like he might Welcome back to jj C. Now.
See the problem is, I used to commit to a
(00:21):
British accent, but now that I listen to g Flip
all the time, I commit to an Australian accent. And
then I'm like, Nah, it just doesn't work. It just
doesn't work, all right, I gotta stop. I gotta move
on from that. Anyways, Welcome back to joj Just's one Now. Today,
I am going on a eleven year old Jojo time
(00:42):
travel mission, and we are going way back to the beginning.
I am gonna tell you about my very very first
TV show experience. What was like getting on the show.
Maybe even like a little bit about my life before
the Show's gonna naturally come up life during the show,
and I I feel like, you guys know me, I'm
just gonna ramble. We know how that goes. I feel
(01:04):
like I have like a topic that I want to
talk about and then it's like, oh yeah, yeah, I'm
gonna talk to myself for thirty minutes about this topic.
Oh easy, let me ramble on happily. So that's what's
happening right now. Buckle up, get your seatbelts on, because
we are going down Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition memory Lane.
I am nine years old. I honestly, okay, let's go
(01:28):
back a little bit further. My whole life since before
Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition. Grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. I
was a very very different child. I was not normal.
I don't really know how to explain it. I've only
met one kid that my mom has been like, this
is what you were like, and I was like, oh,
(01:48):
that makes sense. Actually, I'll tell you who the kid is.
It's little Titus, who we love so very much. He
started out as Minni Jake Paul. I feel like Titus
still does a little Minijake Paul gig every every so often.
But my mom, you know, we just had Titus performed
with my exog pop girls. She was like the tightest.
That's like pretty similar to how you were when you
(02:09):
were a kid, and it's just you just tell that
there's just something in that kid that like he just
he understood something on a different level. And that's that's
basically what my mom told me. I was like my
whole life, and everyone that knew me when I was
little would say that too. People used to tell her mom,
They're like, you just need a driver into the Disney
building and just set her on the ground and don't
(02:30):
know what to do with her. And my mom was like,
I don't know how it works, but I know that's
not how it works. Uh now, knowing what I know,
that's definitely not how it works. You would get kicked
uf O security in an instant. Anyways. So growing up
in Omahana Rasca, I always danced my mom on a
dance studio and I always loved it. But I always
knew that I wanted more. I always knew that I
wanted to be Hannah Montana or I Carly. I always
(02:53):
said that I wanted a show called I Hannah Montana
because I loved I Carly and I loved Hannah Montana. Uh,
but you know you're you're in on Nebraska, Like what's
gonna happen? You know what I mean? And so my
mom brought me out to La when I was really little.
I was four years old. Did this thing called AMTC.
A lot of child stars do AMTC when they're really little,
and it's just like a big competition where a bunch
(03:16):
of models and nectars and dancers go and they compete
and they perform in front of agents and managers and
it's it's basically long story short, like it's not it's
it's legit, but it's a little like it's for the
right people, but not really anything comes of it, if
that makes sense. But it's a massive experience that like
(03:39):
everyone does. It's a very strange thing. Anyways. So then
after that, like went back to Nebraska nothing. I was
homeschool in my whole life so I could dance more.
And just because I was too smart initially for school
in kindergarten, I got tested and they were like, yo,
she is at a third grade level. And my mom
(03:59):
my school wouldn't let me grade up, and so my
mom made the decision to homeschool meets that way I
could grade up. And then it ended up working out
because then I could dance more, and then it ended
up working out even better for my TV career. So
cut to Dance Moms comes out. I think Dance Moms
came out when I was like six or seven, and
my mom was like, why are we not on this show?
(04:20):
Like this is literally me, like what? And so that
was kind of funny when the show came out and
then turns out a few years later I ended up
being on it. But then they made a spinoff, Abby's
Ultimate Dance Competition, and it was a preview for it
on Dance Moms and it was like, if you want
to submit, you know, send your audition in a year.
And so my mom did the first season and nothing,
you didn't hear, We didn't hear anything. And so she
(04:41):
did the second season and she she actually she didn't
tell me anything. She didn't tell me that she did
at first, and then because she didn't think anything was
gonna come of it. It's just like go for it,
but like hope for the best of Well, like obviously
nothing's gonna happen. Well something happened. We got an email back,
My mom got an email back, and I was like,
we would like to do a Skype interview with you
time when Skype was a thing. We love Skype. I
(05:03):
love that, Like Zoom came in and like fully took over,
but Skype was the og. Anyways, did a skype interview,
and they loved my mom and I. So at this
point in time, I'm nine years old. I'm very young.
I believe the original age for the show was ten
and older. But they liked me because I was I
was fun I was funky, I was fearless, and what
(05:26):
I would say, I could hold my own in the
dance department. But it was more so about that personality.
And they mentioned that I was very young, but they
liked it, they were okay with it. And so then
cut to we had another skype and then some paperwork,
another skype, and then some paperwork, another skype, and then
some paperwork. And on these skypes, they really would just
(05:47):
interview my mom, interview me, interview us together, interview us
without each other in the room, to like see what
our dynamic really was, like, tell us scenarios and how
we would react. And it was just it was really
a good pat called. The casting agents were incredible for
that show. And what's funny is I don't think we
(06:08):
really knew what was going on at the time. Now
knowing what I know about reality TV, they were looking
for somebody who was going to make a good show.
Without knowing it, I think That's what happens now is
on reality TV, people think, oh, I want to come
in and be the villain or oh I want to
come in and be the good guy, whereas it's like, no,
you just gotta naturally be that or do that. It's
(06:28):
not something that you can fake, you know what I mean.
So anyways, uh, then you have to do something called
a psych test. Now, this is something that you have
to do for a lot of reality TV shows because
reality TV is very intense, it's very real, and it's
very maneuvered. Maybe is the right word manipulated? Is not
(06:51):
the right word produced? Maybe is the right word? Scripted
is the wrong word. That's when people get reality TV
very confused. Is it is real? There is no script,
but there is some guidance in there of what's gonna happen,
and the the producers you know, in all reality shows,
will be like, hey, uh, Sarah said this about Jackie.
What do you think about that? You know what I mean?
(07:12):
And so there is some like side of our conversation
on how you'll find out things that you didn't know,
And so you have to do psych evaluations and Abby's
Ultimate Dan's Competition was one that we had to do
a psychic valve for another one is like UH special Forces,
we had to do a massive psychic valve for UH
special Forces. And it's these psych evaluations are actually like
(07:38):
so deep and so intense. I the first one that
I like really I guess was like able to comprehend
what everything was was for Special Forces was the first
time that I was like old enough to really like
know what I was doing, and like when I was
reading all these questions, it's just like a like sec
the ABC or D type of thing. I mean, it
is very very intense. It's crazy, it's it's a it
(08:02):
takes it takes about an hour. It's very it's very intense.
And I'm not a tester because I was always homeschooled
and so for tests, I get super stressed out. And
so anyways, that's a story for another time. We'll get
into that another day. Bags at E DCY So we
did our cycle val and we were all good, good
(08:25):
in that department, and then they did a final audition
in New York. So they ended up being twelve of
us on the show, but they brought twenty four of
us to New York. We did not see each other.
One would go in, one would go out, and so
like we like we just no one. No one crossed paths.
We don't know who anyone was. But we all were
in New York at the same time. This is my
first time ever going to New York. We stayed at
(08:46):
a really cool hotel. My mom drug me everywhere. We
went on the subway. We went to a Rockefeller, we
went to Times Square, we went to freaking Central Park,
we went we went literally every where. We were the
tourists that to have lived you named the New York
Tourist Attraction. We saw it in forty eight hours. It
was actually really fun. Looking back at the time, I
(09:08):
was like, Mom, can't we just go chill. She's like no,
because we don't come to New York. Like, this is
crazy that we're in New York City. I think it
was actually maybe her like second time in New York
City and it was my first obviously, and so it
was a very very big deal. Anyways, cut tol We
go back home and we didn't think anything because we
didn't hear anything. It is about a month later and
we were like, all right, it just didn't happen, right,
(09:30):
And then one day we were at the homeschool store
buying new homeschool books for me. This was in a April,
March March, I think maybe March February, February, March or April,
I don't know, it doesn't matter. We'll we filmed the
show in April, so it would have had to have
been in March in February either way. We got a
phone call and it was like, hello, is this Jesselyn.
(09:52):
It was a little English girl and my mom was like, yes,
this is she and she was like, oh, well, I'm
just calling to inform you, and so we were like shit,
like we didn't make it, you know what I mean,
because I'm just calling to inform you. And then she
was like you made the show, and I just started sobbing.
I mean, it was my like ultimate dream to be
(10:14):
on Abbey's Ultimate Dance Competition. I just watched season one
and so I was just so stoked. And then from
there it was like, oh, this is real, Like this
is really really happening. Okay, Okay, what do I do now?
How do I prepare now? And then it was kind
of like no, We've spent nine years of our life
preparing for this, like this now we just got to
(10:34):
go and do it. So then we had we had
a few weeks at home, and then we flew out
to Los Angeles, California, to film Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition.
It was nuts. I couldn't tell anyone that I was
doing it, and so for like friends back home, they
were like, where are you going? And I was like, nowhere.
How long are you gonna be there? I don't know,
(10:55):
like it was so we had to be so download.
The only people that knew were my mom obviously cause
she was about three, and my dad and brother. There's
were the only people that knew. Everybody else we had
to keep it a secret from uh. So then we
got to California, we landed, we went to a hotel
and they came in and I remember this so vividly.
I don't know how or why because there's no pictures
(11:15):
or videos of this anywhere, but they had me try
on all of my dancewear, and they had my mom
try on all of our outfits so they could take
pictures of it and so they could know what we're
going to look like on the show. And now the
process of the show is it's an elimination show, so
you don't know how long you're going to be there for,
so you don't really know. You could be their twelve weeks,
you could be there one week, and so you didn't
really want to like unpack in the hotel. But then
(11:37):
they were like, try on all your outfits and they're like, okay,
let's unpack, right, So we unpacked and got all settled,
and then like two days later, it was time for
our very first day on set and they were like,
pack up all of your stuff and bring it to
the lobby. You're moving. And we were like what what,
And so we packed up everything, we brought it all
(11:58):
down to the lobby, and we ended up living on set,
so that was crazy. Once we got to the set,
they were like this, this is your bungalow. You can
go put all your stuff in there. And so there
was two houses that each had like four families in it,
and then there was these bungalows that was like apartment apartment,
apartment apartment, and it was more like a studio apartment.
(12:21):
Like they were very tiny, but it was My apartment
was in the top left, Colonnie was in the top right.
Then the twin boys, Chaps and Tyler were in the
bottom left. And then Ali and her mom Tiffany were
in the bottom right. So we all lucked out by
getting those apartments. Everybody else was all in the house together.
Now the houses were nice, but like no, no, no way,
(12:43):
no way, would not have wanted been in that house.
And we also were lucky because my side of the
apartment had a shower, and then Kolanie's side had like
a little kitchen, so we we shared that and so
we could use the kitchen, they could use the shower.
We didn't care who used what. And then but the
houses they had to use like poor to potty showers
and like porda potty bathrooms. They did have a nice kitchen,
(13:05):
but like oh so happy, and then all the other
people were like, can we use your shower? And so
everyone would come up to shower once they learned that
we had one. Anyways, so it's the first day on
set and they say the first thing that I remember
them saying is everyone's on hard ice. And I said,
what's hard ice? And they said this is you're on
hard ice. And I said what's hard ice? Because I
(13:28):
didn't know what that meant. And on set, ice means
to be quiet. Hard ice means be dead, silent, do
not speak, do not speak a word, like you cannot talk.
And that is just because cameras aren't up. They don't
want to catch anything. They don't want to miss anything
that they would have wanted to catch. So hard ice,
do not speak ice is like yo, don't talk unless
(13:48):
it's an emergency. And then there's a thing called slush,
And if you're on slush, it's like talk but don't
talk anything interesting. That's more of a thing that they
use later, more so on dance moms, like all right,
y'all are on slush right now, Like during lunch, for example,
we would be on slush, So that would be like
you can talk, but like don't talk about like what's
going on on the show or during filming, talk about
(14:11):
like your crush. That's fine. So we once you kind
of knew what you couldn't couldn't talk about, then they
started to imply slush, but ice and hard ice. All
the time on ADC, we were either on ice or
hard ice if we weren't on camera. So then we
went outside for a long, long long time, and then
they finally brought us into the building one by one.
I feel like I was like I was towards the middle.
(14:31):
I didn't really go in first, and I didn't really
go in last. It's definitely towards the middle. And I
was the youngest one there, and everyone from the get
go hated me. I looking back, I know why. At
the time, I definitely didn't understand why. I was like,
why don't these people want to be my friends? Like
(14:51):
I am confused, and genuinely, it's just because I was
nine and the rest of them were thirteen fourteen, and
they just they weren't the type of girls that were
going to be friends with a nine year old, you
know what I mean, And they're actually there was a
lot of bullying to me that went on on that set,
but I never never really let it affect me. I
(15:13):
think it actually helped kind of strengthen me. I had
my priority super straight on that set. I knew what
my goal was there, and it didn't really bother me
that no one besides Clawnie in the kid department really
cared for me, if that makes sense. I did have
one person going into the show that I knew beforehand
(15:34):
that I was a little She was kind of like
a big sister figure to me actually, and I was
a little that was kind of hard for me to realize, like, oh,
why is even why is she not wanting to be
my friend? Like she was my friend literally a week ago,
what the heck? But it was just because she wanted
to be with the cool thirteen year olds, And so
I think I really realized that once I hit thirteen
(15:56):
and I was in a position where I wanted to
be friends with the younger people. I thought it was fine,
like you can be friends with anybody, but I saw
other people my age being like, ew, why are you
hanging out with them? And I would be like, cause
they're cool, Like I don't care. It's like it doesn't matter,
you know what I mean? And so I really understood
then once I kind of aged up and other people
were like that, I was like, oh. And then I
(16:19):
also think that translated to why I surrounded myself my
closest friends with adults my whole life because they didn't
they didn't have any of that cattiness that other kids
my age did. You know, other kids my age wanted
to be cool, whereas the friends that I chose and
got grew close to were like, no, it's not cool
to be like that. It's cool to just be chill
(16:40):
and like hang out with anybody. And I was like,
oh oh, I like this, like this vibe is more
my vibe. Anyways, back to AUDC, So the very very
first day on set, me and Klawnie actually though we
became so close on that show, we told our moms.
On the very first day, we walked up to our
moms and we said, we decided that we're be best friends,
(17:00):
so you guys have to be best friends, and both
of our moms were like okay. So then from then
on out, it was like we were blue, like we
were just best best friends. We had each other's back,
we were there for each other. And Klannie was the
next youngest. Actually that's why I think Hayley was the
next youngest, but then Klannie was just they were the
same age as a few months older, and so she
(17:22):
was also on that kind of end of like the
older girls didn't really want to hang out with her,
and that was okay, Like she and I became really
good friends. Anyways, So AUDC, the way ADC was structured
was kind of crazy. It was so real. There's a
lot of reality shows that I'm like, Okay, this is
this is like, how real is this? Right? AUDC and
(17:46):
Special Forces are the two reality shows that I'm like, wow,
Like I can't even like I can picture being on set,
but I can't picture seeing a camera, if that makes sense.
Like Dance Moms, for example, I'm on set, but I
see the cameras, you know what I mean. It's real,
but I can see the cameras and see the producers
dancing with the stars. It's very real. But I can
(18:09):
see the camera and see the producer, you know what
I mean. AUDC and Special Forces have one thing in
common and that it's very real, but you can't see
the camera or the producer. It's all just happening. And
I do think that was because I was a contestant
on the show. I think like the judges and the
host definitely, I mean had an idiot and they walked
in the video village and they saw these things, whereas
(18:30):
the contestant, you know, we were sheltered from all of that.
We could only go in specific areas. But there was
so many rules on that set. We could not go
anywhere without an escort because they didn't want us running
into the judges or the host or producers. We couldn't
go into crafty. We could get any food we wanted,
but they would have to get it for us. A
lot of a lot of rules we had to ask for,
(18:52):
like to go anywhere, to do anything. We couldn't just
like go. The very first day, we're all on stage,
and about two hours into that first day is when
we actually met Abby for the first time. So we
(19:12):
were all on stage warming up, dancing, improving, jumping, and
Abby comes out and then she had to go back
to do her entrance again. So she comes out right,
we all freak out, and then she's like, oh wait, wait, wait,
so then she leaves again. Now nine year old me,
I don't know why I did this, but I turned
around and I started dancing for Abby. No one told
(19:33):
me to, no one gave that like suggestion. It was
just something that I did naturally. I knew she was
back there now, and so I just started improving or
warming up and facing her, whereas everyone was still facing
the front. And Abby came out on stage and again
and she said, there's one of you here that's really smart,
and it's the one that turned around and started dancing
for me and everyone. Then from that point I was
(19:54):
like that little shit, you know what I mean. It
was one of those things that like I just found,
don't I don't know, there was one of those you
just like no one told me do, no one taught
me to do that. It just it just happened. Anyways,
we do the first Group Dance Challenge and let it
be known that I was out first. Now spoiler alert,
I was out first every single week on the Group
(20:16):
Dance Challenge. There's this really funny video of me from
like week six where I'm like, honestly, because in interviews
they'd be like, how do you feel, how do you
feel about that Group Dance Challenge? Like you were out
pretty pretty early on, and you know, every week I'd
cry about it and be like, oh yeah, it was
so sad, like I thought I did good. Finally on
week six, I was like, you know, honestly, like it's
my fiftieth time being out first. I'm used to it
by now. I found out this from the producer of
(20:40):
Abby's Alton Dance Competition, who I've become very good friends
with over the years. His name is Brian Stinson, and
he told me that they used to whenever they were
bored on sets. So what would happen is they would
pull you in to do these interviews, right, and they
would pull the moms in for about thirty minutes at
a time, and they would pull the girls in for
like ten minutes at a time, right, And so my
(21:03):
mom would be like in the room with the other
moms like doing their mom thing, fighting, making costumes, whatever
it was they were doing that day, and I would
come in there and my mom would be like, oh, honey,
how's your day. And I'd be like, oh good, I
just got done doing like a three hour interview. And
my mom was like what And I was like, yeah,
it was great, Like I was chilling about it, and
all the other moms were like uh huh, and everyone
(21:23):
was like, she's just making shit up like that. She's nine,
she doesn't know time yet, right, And I kept saying
that and kept doing that every single day, and I'd
be like, oh, yeah, I had rehearsal, and we rehearsed
for like thirty minutes. But then I went into like
a three hour interview, or I went into a two
hour interview, and finally my mom was like, honey, are
you actually doing this long of interviews? And I was
(21:43):
like yeah, all the time, and she was and she
was like, that's where you've been all days in an
interview and I'd be like yeah, And turns out I
find this out ten years later. Whenever the producers of
the show were bored on set, they would all go
to craw get a snack, go to what's called video Village,
which is where they have all of the monitors, right,
(22:05):
and that's like where they like normally watch the show
and stuff, and they would turn all the audio off
except for the monitor in my interview, and they would
pull me to do an interview, and they would make
one producer go interview me and one camera vengo sit there.
Everybody else on set would go in video village, turn
on the monitor and just watch. They called it the
(22:26):
Jojo Show, and they would just watch me talk for hours.
They would have an ear with the producer and they
would say what to ask me, and they like, I guess,
I guess I was just young, and I would spoken
and honest and kind of funny and like said what
everyone was thinking, but like with no fear, and so yeah,
that's why I had such long interviews because I was
(22:49):
personal entertainment. I guess, No, honestly, I look back though
at my journey on AUDC and I truly do have
some really fun memories. There was this one time where
we all me and all the girls we watched a
scary movie. It was I don't know, God, I'm never
gonna remember the movie. But then it was I said,
(23:09):
all the girls is if it was all the girls?
It was not all the girls. It was me, Colonie
and Haley. And then Haley had to walk back to
her apartment and it was literally like twelve feet away,
not far at all. She had to walk back. She
was in one of the houses and she goes to
walk back and she's like, guys, I'm scared. So then
Klannie runs around, hides in the bush and scares her.
(23:29):
She comes back. I hid in the other version. We
scare her and like just like so many fun silly
memories like that. Then we ended up walking her back
to her apartment. We weren't good at some point. There
was this one time me and Colonney were obsessed with
making video stars. We are obsessed with it. Video star
back of the day was like cap cut now, but
(23:51):
it was like so much better. We love video star
and so we'd make them all the time, and this
one night it was like freaking midnight, right and we
were outside making a video started Gangnum style and I
was like, Colonie, I have an idea, and Colonie was like, Geral,
I have an idea, and like, who's all my own idea?
I had idea, let's do this. I have an idea,
let's do that. And Cheryl the Twin Boys mom opens
(24:13):
her door and she goes, I have an idea, go
to sleep, and we like died laughing and ran upstairs.
And I thought it was so funny. We didn't need to
go to sleep. There's just so many fun little memories
like that. There was definitely a lot of hard times
on Abbey's Altoman dance competition. I think every week I
(24:34):
was fearful that I was going to go home. I
think every week I was fearful of messing up, not
maybe not messing up, but maybe maybe not being to
my greatest potential. I think that was something that my
mom was really good at of making sure she was
because I mean I was little, I was only nine,
and so making sure that she pushed me to my
(24:57):
potential without pushing me to my limit. There is definitely
a big difference. And I always say there's a difference
in good stage mom and psycho stage mom, and a
stage mom's a stage mom. But there are stage moms
like Beyonce's stage mom. There is stage moms like Christian Jenner,
and there's Jess Siah's. And my mom was always, always
(25:20):
a good stage mom. And if anybody out there doesn't
believe that, look at the history of my career, look
at the companies that I've worked for and continued to
work for. You know, I can guarantee that I would
not have worked for the biggest child network for eight
years without if my mom wasn't a good stage mom.
(25:43):
I can guarantee that Fox, who is now my number
one network, who I work with all the time. I've
done seven Fox shows, and I started working for Fox
when I was a minor, guarantee Fox would not have
continued using me if my mom was not a good
stage mom. And it's it's actually crazy. That's something that
(26:05):
they say can really make or break a child star's
career is their parent behind them, because it is it's
important that their parent has a lot of checks and balance.
You know, there's the balance of school, there's the balance
of childhood and there's the balance of career and stardom.
And I think for me, my mom saw something in
(26:25):
me that I couldn't see because I was just too young.
But looking back at it, I would have done everything
she did. She always just fought for what was right
for me, and at the same time, she always knew
she was making a TV show. Now that doesn't mean
she's staged anything or faked anything. It just means that
she knew what she got herself into and she was
(26:45):
there to do her job. So that's my that's my
little mom tangent that I'm going to go on really quick.
She was good. There was only there was one week
on ADC and it was the Vampire Dance that I
did with Clonnie where that was the one week where
I really feel like I wasn't wasn't at my best.
I think I was intimidated. I think I was tired.
(27:06):
I think I was exhausted. I was just I was done.
And my mom and I had a really good talk
and I told her, I was like, I'm just sick
of it. I'm sick of everyone telling me that I'm
not doing good. I'm sick of everyone all the other
girls being mean to me. I'm sick of everyone telling
me I'm not dancing mature enough. It's it's hard and
I'm a kid, and I don't like hearing this. And
(27:27):
she was really good at that point then of reeling
it in and reeling it back and being like, yes
you are. And then she was really good at being like, so,
do you want to go home? And I was like,
well no, and she was like, okay, so then let's
figure it out, you know what I mean. That's that
was something that my mom was always good with me,
Do you want to go home? And I always said no, absolutely, not,
(27:47):
even back in the day when I left dance Moms
my mom. My mom actually said the reverse of it.
She was like, say the word. Well, she would say
this on the one. She'd say, say the word and
we'll go say the word and we'll go home. I'm
not saying it. I am not saying it. I want
to stay. And she'd be like, it's so messed up
here say the words a week and go home, and
I'm like, no, I'm not saying it. I like it.
I like being on TV. And my mom was like,
(28:08):
you're crazy, and I was like, I'm crazy, and then
on Dance offic when I left Dance Moms, my mom
almost like, say the word and we'll go back. If
you want to go back that bad say the word
and we'll go back. And I was like for the
first time, I was like, word said, I want to
go back, And my mom was like, well no, she
was like I didn't expect that, sorry, because she knew
what was best for me, and so I gotta I
gotta believe her in that world. Now, I could deep
(28:32):
dive into my elimination on AUDC, but that, honestly, if
I watch that clip, it gets me to cry, and
so I'm afraid when I start to talk about it
that I'm going to start to cry. But here's the
thing is, I want to do a whole Jojo See
would Now podcast on all of my eliminations because I've
done so many elimination TV shows. Let's say I've done
(28:53):
Abby's Alto my dance Competition, I've done the Mass Singer,
I've done Sea Was Dance Proper Revolution, So you think
you can dance Dancing with the Stars, Special Forces America's
got talent. I don't know if I'm missing Eddie, but
I for sure no I've done those seven and I've
been on a few different ends. So Mass Singer, Dancing
(29:13):
with the Stars, Special Forces, Abby's on the dance competition,
I've been the one actually myself competing, and then she
was Dance Pop Revolution and two seasons of So You
Think You Can Dance? I've been the one on the
judging side, and then uh uh with America's Got Talent,
I've been the mentor. My girl group did America's Got Talent.
And what's crazy is all of those shows I have
(29:36):
never won. I have never walked away victorious. I think
Special Forces I did walk away victorious in one way,
but I did not get the Badge of Honor at
the end. It was fully my choice. But I think
it'd be kind of fun to talk about all the
different elimination experiences and what they've all kind of taught
me and meant to me, because they each do have
(29:58):
such a massive part of a learning curve of my life,
because they've all affected me in the deepest ways possible.
I mean the Mass Singer, I'm not joking you. I
cried for three days, like actual tears, actual sobbing, actual
could not pull it together, like cried more than I
did during my breakup and then I mean Dancing with
(30:18):
the Stars. Dancing with the Stars, I wasn't so much
said that I got second. I was more so sad
that it was over, and so that was a massive
learning curve. But there's so much that I could deep
dive on with just my elimination stories. And so if
you want that on a Joke's and Now podcast, let
me know, everybody. I truly enjoyed deep diving into AUDC
(30:40):
that that show has such a special place in my heart.
It always will. I feel like AUDC was the start
of so much, and it was. I mean, I think
without it, I don't know how my career would have started.
From There's when I went to Dance Moms. From there's
when I went to social media and music, and now
I'm here, you know what I mean. It's been a
(31:00):
lot of work and it's been a lot of journey
in my career. Timeline is absolutely crazy, and I do
truly a credit all of it to a UDC being
the start. I mean, it's it's physical proof. It literally
is the first thing that I ever did publicly. But
uh yeah, I always I'm curious about where my life
would be without it. I think I would be headed
(31:20):
in med school right now. I'd be in my last
year of college and I'd be going into med school
as much as I love that. Very grateful that I
am here in Atlanta right now filming So You Think
You Can Dance? Season eighteen. Uh. Anyways, everybody, I love
y'all so very much. Thank you for hanging out with me.
Thank you for listening to this Joe, Just You and
Now podcast. If you're ready for the eliminations episode, let
(31:43):
me know and I will see you all next time.
Deos is. Thank you so much for listening. Everybody. Be
sure to follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Jojoes
to a 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.
You're listening to Jojassee one now with me Jojo Seua
and iHeartRadio podcast. Welcome back to Jojo See One Now.
I feel like I should do a whole episode in
an accent like he might Welcome back to jj C. Now.
See the problem is, I used to commit to a
(00:21):
British accent, but now that I listen to g Flip
all the time, I commit to an Australian accent. And
then I'm like, Nah, it just doesn't work. It just
doesn't work, all right, I gotta stop. I gotta move
on from that. Anyways, Welcome back to joj Just's one Now. Today,
I am going on a eleven year old Jojo time
(00:42):
travel mission, and we are going way back to the beginning.
I am gonna tell you about my very very first
TV show experience. What was like getting on the show.
Maybe even like a little bit about my life before
the Show's gonna naturally come up life during the show,
and I I feel like, you guys know me, I'm
just gonna ramble. We know how that goes. I feel
(01:04):
like I have like a topic that I want to
talk about and then it's like, oh yeah, yeah, I'm
gonna talk to myself for thirty minutes about this topic.
Oh easy, let me ramble on happily. So that's what's
happening right now. Buckle up, get your seatbelts on, because
we are going down Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition memory Lane.
I am nine years old. I honestly, okay, let's go
(01:28):
back a little bit further. My whole life since before
Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition. Grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. I
was a very very different child. I was not normal.
I don't really know how to explain it. I've only
met one kid that my mom has been like, this
is what you were like, and I was like, oh,
(01:48):
that makes sense. Actually, I'll tell you who the kid is.
It's little Titus, who we love so very much. He
started out as Minni Jake Paul. I feel like Titus
still does a little Minijake Paul gig every every so often.
But my mom, you know, we just had Titus performed
with my exog pop girls. She was like the tightest.
That's like pretty similar to how you were when you
(02:09):
were a kid, and it's just you just tell that
there's just something in that kid that like he just
he understood something on a different level. And that's that's
basically what my mom told me. I was like my
whole life, and everyone that knew me when I was
little would say that too. People used to tell her mom,
They're like, you just need a driver into the Disney
building and just set her on the ground and don't
(02:30):
know what to do with her. And my mom was like,
I don't know how it works, but I know that's
not how it works. Uh now, knowing what I know,
that's definitely not how it works. You would get kicked
uf O security in an instant. Anyways. So growing up
in Omahana Rasca, I always danced my mom on a
dance studio and I always loved it. But I always
knew that I wanted more. I always knew that I
wanted to be Hannah Montana or I Carly. I always
(02:53):
said that I wanted a show called I Hannah Montana
because I loved I Carly and I loved Hannah Montana. Uh,
but you know you're you're in on Nebraska, Like what's
gonna happen? You know what I mean? And so my
mom brought me out to La when I was really little.
I was four years old. Did this thing called AMTC.
A lot of child stars do AMTC when they're really little,
and it's just like a big competition where a bunch
(03:16):
of models and nectars and dancers go and they compete
and they perform in front of agents and managers and
it's it's basically long story short, like it's not it's
it's legit, but it's a little like it's for the
right people, but not really anything comes of it, if
that makes sense. But it's a massive experience that like
(03:39):
everyone does. It's a very strange thing. Anyways. So then
after that, like went back to Nebraska nothing. I was
homeschool in my whole life so I could dance more.
And just because I was too smart initially for school
in kindergarten, I got tested and they were like, yo,
she is at a third grade level. And my mom
(03:59):
my school wouldn't let me grade up, and so my
mom made the decision to homeschool meets that way I
could grade up. And then it ended up working out
because then I could dance more, and then it ended
up working out even better for my TV career. So
cut to Dance Moms comes out. I think Dance Moms
came out when I was like six or seven, and
my mom was like, why are we not on this show?
(04:20):
Like this is literally me, like what? And so that
was kind of funny when the show came out and
then turns out a few years later I ended up
being on it. But then they made a spinoff, Abby's
Ultimate Dance Competition, and it was a preview for it
on Dance Moms and it was like, if you want
to submit, you know, send your audition in a year.
And so my mom did the first season and nothing,
you didn't hear, We didn't hear anything. And so she
(04:41):
did the second season and she she actually she didn't
tell me anything. She didn't tell me that she did
at first, and then because she didn't think anything was
gonna come of it. It's just like go for it,
but like hope for the best of Well, like obviously
nothing's gonna happen. Well something happened. We got an email back,
My mom got an email back, and I was like,
we would like to do a Skype interview with you
time when Skype was a thing. We love Skype. I
(05:03):
love that, Like Zoom came in and like fully took over,
but Skype was the og. Anyways, did a skype interview,
and they loved my mom and I. So at this
point in time, I'm nine years old. I'm very young.
I believe the original age for the show was ten
and older. But they liked me because I was I
was fun I was funky, I was fearless, and what
(05:26):
I would say, I could hold my own in the
dance department. But it was more so about that personality.
And they mentioned that I was very young, but they
liked it, they were okay with it. And so then
cut to we had another skype and then some paperwork,
another skype, and then some paperwork, another skype, and then
some paperwork. And on these skypes, they really would just
(05:47):
interview my mom, interview me, interview us together, interview us
without each other in the room, to like see what
our dynamic really was, like, tell us scenarios and how
we would react. And it was just it was really
a good pat called. The casting agents were incredible for
that show. And what's funny is I don't think we
(06:08):
really knew what was going on at the time. Now
knowing what I know about reality TV, they were looking
for somebody who was going to make a good show.
Without knowing it, I think That's what happens now is
on reality TV, people think, oh, I want to come
in and be the villain or oh I want to
come in and be the good guy, whereas it's like, no,
you just gotta naturally be that or do that. It's
(06:28):
not something that you can fake, you know what I mean.
So anyways, uh, then you have to do something called
a psych test. Now, this is something that you have
to do for a lot of reality TV shows because
reality TV is very intense, it's very real, and it's
very maneuvered. Maybe is the right word manipulated? Is not
(06:51):
the right word produced? Maybe is the right word? Scripted
is the wrong word. That's when people get reality TV
very confused. Is it is real? There is no script,
but there is some guidance in there of what's gonna happen,
and the the producers you know, in all reality shows,
will be like, hey, uh, Sarah said this about Jackie.
What do you think about that? You know what I mean?
(07:12):
And so there is some like side of our conversation
on how you'll find out things that you didn't know,
And so you have to do psych evaluations and Abby's
Ultimate Dan's Competition was one that we had to do
a psychic valve for another one is like UH special Forces,
we had to do a massive psychic valve for UH
special Forces. And it's these psych evaluations are actually like
(07:38):
so deep and so intense. I the first one that
I like really I guess was like able to comprehend
what everything was was for Special Forces was the first
time that I was like old enough to really like
know what I was doing, and like when I was
reading all these questions, it's just like a like sec
the ABC or D type of thing. I mean, it
is very very intense. It's crazy, it's it's a it
(08:02):
takes it takes about an hour. It's very it's very intense.
And I'm not a tester because I was always homeschooled
and so for tests, I get super stressed out. And
so anyways, that's a story for another time. We'll get
into that another day. Bags at E DCY So we
did our cycle val and we were all good, good
(08:25):
in that department, and then they did a final audition
in New York. So they ended up being twelve of
us on the show, but they brought twenty four of
us to New York. We did not see each other.
One would go in, one would go out, and so
like we like we just no one. No one crossed paths.
We don't know who anyone was. But we all were
in New York at the same time. This is my
first time ever going to New York. We stayed at
(08:46):
a really cool hotel. My mom drug me everywhere. We
went on the subway. We went to a Rockefeller, we
went to Times Square, we went to freaking Central Park,
we went we went literally every where. We were the
tourists that to have lived you named the New York
Tourist Attraction. We saw it in forty eight hours. It
was actually really fun. Looking back at the time, I
(09:08):
was like, Mom, can't we just go chill. She's like no,
because we don't come to New York. Like, this is
crazy that we're in New York City. I think it
was actually maybe her like second time in New York
City and it was my first obviously, and so it
was a very very big deal. Anyways, cut tol We
go back home and we didn't think anything because we
didn't hear anything. It is about a month later and
we were like, all right, it just didn't happen, right,
(09:30):
And then one day we were at the homeschool store
buying new homeschool books for me. This was in a April,
March March, I think maybe March February, February, March or April,
I don't know, it doesn't matter. We'll we filmed the
show in April, so it would have had to have
been in March in February either way. We got a
phone call and it was like, hello, is this Jesselyn.
(09:52):
It was a little English girl and my mom was like, yes,
this is she and she was like, oh, well, I'm
just calling to inform you, and so we were like shit,
like we didn't make it, you know what I mean,
because I'm just calling to inform you. And then she
was like you made the show, and I just started sobbing.
I mean, it was my like ultimate dream to be
(10:14):
on Abbey's Ultimate Dance Competition. I just watched season one
and so I was just so stoked. And then from
there it was like, oh, this is real, Like this
is really really happening. Okay, Okay, what do I do now?
How do I prepare now? And then it was kind
of like no, We've spent nine years of our life
preparing for this, like this now we just got to
(10:34):
go and do it. So then we had we had
a few weeks at home, and then we flew out
to Los Angeles, California, to film Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition.
It was nuts. I couldn't tell anyone that I was
doing it, and so for like friends back home, they
were like, where are you going? And I was like, nowhere.
How long are you gonna be there? I don't know,
(10:55):
like it was so we had to be so download.
The only people that knew were my mom obviously cause
she was about three, and my dad and brother. There's
were the only people that knew. Everybody else we had
to keep it a secret from uh. So then we
got to California, we landed, we went to a hotel
and they came in and I remember this so vividly.
I don't know how or why because there's no pictures
(11:15):
or videos of this anywhere, but they had me try
on all of my dancewear, and they had my mom
try on all of our outfits so they could take
pictures of it and so they could know what we're
going to look like on the show. And now the
process of the show is it's an elimination show, so
you don't know how long you're going to be there for,
so you don't really know. You could be their twelve weeks,
you could be there one week, and so you didn't
really want to like unpack in the hotel. But then
(11:37):
they were like, try on all your outfits and they're like, okay,
let's unpack, right, So we unpacked and got all settled,
and then like two days later, it was time for
our very first day on set and they were like,
pack up all of your stuff and bring it to
the lobby. You're moving. And we were like what what,
And so we packed up everything, we brought it all
(11:58):
down to the lobby, and we ended up living on set,
so that was crazy. Once we got to the set,
they were like this, this is your bungalow. You can
go put all your stuff in there. And so there
was two houses that each had like four families in it,
and then there was these bungalows that was like apartment apartment,
apartment apartment, and it was more like a studio apartment.
(12:21):
Like they were very tiny, but it was My apartment
was in the top left, Colonnie was in the top right.
Then the twin boys, Chaps and Tyler were in the
bottom left. And then Ali and her mom Tiffany were
in the bottom right. So we all lucked out by
getting those apartments. Everybody else was all in the house together.
Now the houses were nice, but like no, no, no way,
(12:43):
no way, would not have wanted been in that house.
And we also were lucky because my side of the
apartment had a shower, and then Kolanie's side had like
a little kitchen, so we we shared that and so
we could use the kitchen, they could use the shower.
We didn't care who used what. And then but the
houses they had to use like poor to potty showers
and like porda potty bathrooms. They did have a nice kitchen,
(13:05):
but like oh so happy, and then all the other
people were like, can we use your shower? And so
everyone would come up to shower once they learned that
we had one. Anyways, so it's the first day on
set and they say the first thing that I remember
them saying is everyone's on hard ice. And I said,
what's hard ice? And they said this is you're on
hard ice. And I said what's hard ice? Because I
(13:28):
didn't know what that meant. And on set, ice means
to be quiet. Hard ice means be dead, silent, do
not speak, do not speak a word, like you cannot talk.
And that is just because cameras aren't up. They don't
want to catch anything. They don't want to miss anything
that they would have wanted to catch. So hard ice,
do not speak ice is like yo, don't talk unless
(13:48):
it's an emergency. And then there's a thing called slush,
And if you're on slush, it's like talk but don't
talk anything interesting. That's more of a thing that they
use later, more so on dance moms, like all right,
y'all are on slush right now, Like during lunch, for example,
we would be on slush, So that would be like
you can talk, but like don't talk about like what's
going on on the show or during filming, talk about
(14:11):
like your crush. That's fine. So we once you kind
of knew what you couldn't couldn't talk about, then they
started to imply slush, but ice and hard ice. All
the time on ADC, we were either on ice or
hard ice if we weren't on camera. So then we
went outside for a long, long long time, and then
they finally brought us into the building one by one.
I feel like I was like I was towards the middle.
(14:31):
I didn't really go in first, and I didn't really
go in last. It's definitely towards the middle. And I
was the youngest one there, and everyone from the get
go hated me. I looking back, I know why. At
the time, I definitely didn't understand why. I was like,
why don't these people want to be my friends? Like
(14:51):
I am confused, and genuinely, it's just because I was
nine and the rest of them were thirteen fourteen, and
they just they weren't the type of girls that were
going to be friends with a nine year old, you
know what I mean, And they're actually there was a
lot of bullying to me that went on on that set,
but I never never really let it affect me. I
(15:13):
think it actually helped kind of strengthen me. I had
my priority super straight on that set. I knew what
my goal was there, and it didn't really bother me
that no one besides Clawnie in the kid department really
cared for me, if that makes sense. I did have
one person going into the show that I knew beforehand
(15:34):
that I was a little She was kind of like
a big sister figure to me actually, and I was
a little that was kind of hard for me to realize, like, oh,
why is even why is she not wanting to be
my friend? Like she was my friend literally a week ago,
what the heck? But it was just because she wanted
to be with the cool thirteen year olds, And so
I think I really realized that once I hit thirteen
(15:56):
and I was in a position where I wanted to
be friends with the younger people. I thought it was fine,
like you can be friends with anybody, but I saw
other people my age being like, ew, why are you
hanging out with them? And I would be like, cause
they're cool, Like I don't care. It's like it doesn't matter,
you know what I mean? And so I really understood
then once I kind of aged up and other people
were like that, I was like, oh. And then I
(16:19):
also think that translated to why I surrounded myself my
closest friends with adults my whole life because they didn't
they didn't have any of that cattiness that other kids
my age did. You know, other kids my age wanted
to be cool, whereas the friends that I chose and
got grew close to were like, no, it's not cool
to be like that. It's cool to just be chill
(16:40):
and like hang out with anybody. And I was like,
oh oh, I like this, like this vibe is more
my vibe. Anyways, back to AUDC, So the very very
first day on set, me and Klawnie actually though we
became so close on that show, we told our moms.
On the very first day, we walked up to our
moms and we said, we decided that we're be best friends,
(17:00):
so you guys have to be best friends, and both
of our moms were like okay. So then from then
on out, it was like we were blue, like we
were just best best friends. We had each other's back,
we were there for each other. And Klannie was the
next youngest. Actually that's why I think Hayley was the
next youngest, but then Klannie was just they were the
same age as a few months older, and so she
(17:22):
was also on that kind of end of like the
older girls didn't really want to hang out with her,
and that was okay, Like she and I became really
good friends. Anyways, So AUDC, the way ADC was structured
was kind of crazy. It was so real. There's a
lot of reality shows that I'm like, Okay, this is
this is like, how real is this? Right? AUDC and
(17:46):
Special Forces are the two reality shows that I'm like, wow,
Like I can't even like I can picture being on set,
but I can't picture seeing a camera, if that makes sense.
Like Dance Moms, for example, I'm on set, but I
see the cameras, you know what I mean. It's real,
but I can see the cameras and see the producers
dancing with the stars. It's very real. But I can
(18:09):
see the camera and see the producer, you know what
I mean. AUDC and Special Forces have one thing in
common and that it's very real, but you can't see
the camera or the producer. It's all just happening. And
I do think that was because I was a contestant
on the show. I think like the judges and the
host definitely, I mean had an idiot and they walked
in the video village and they saw these things, whereas
(18:30):
the contestant, you know, we were sheltered from all of that.
We could only go in specific areas. But there was
so many rules on that set. We could not go
anywhere without an escort because they didn't want us running
into the judges or the host or producers. We couldn't
go into crafty. We could get any food we wanted,
but they would have to get it for us. A
lot of a lot of rules we had to ask for,
(18:52):
like to go anywhere, to do anything. We couldn't just
like go. The very first day, we're all on stage,
and about two hours into that first day is when
we actually met Abby for the first time. So we
(19:12):
were all on stage warming up, dancing, improving, jumping, and
Abby comes out and then she had to go back
to do her entrance again. So she comes out right,
we all freak out, and then she's like, oh wait, wait, wait,
so then she leaves again. Now nine year old me,
I don't know why I did this, but I turned
around and I started dancing for Abby. No one told
(19:33):
me to, no one gave that like suggestion. It was
just something that I did naturally. I knew she was
back there now, and so I just started improving or
warming up and facing her, whereas everyone was still facing
the front. And Abby came out on stage and again
and she said, there's one of you here that's really smart,
and it's the one that turned around and started dancing
for me and everyone. Then from that point I was
(19:54):
like that little shit, you know what I mean. It
was one of those things that like I just found,
don't I don't know, there was one of those you
just like no one told me do, no one taught
me to do that. It just it just happened. Anyways,
we do the first Group Dance Challenge and let it
be known that I was out first. Now spoiler alert,
I was out first every single week on the Group
(20:16):
Dance Challenge. There's this really funny video of me from
like week six where I'm like, honestly, because in interviews
they'd be like, how do you feel, how do you
feel about that Group Dance Challenge? Like you were out
pretty pretty early on, and you know, every week I'd
cry about it and be like, oh yeah, it was
so sad, like I thought I did good. Finally on
week six, I was like, you know, honestly, like it's
my fiftieth time being out first. I'm used to it
by now. I found out this from the producer of
(20:40):
Abby's Alton Dance Competition, who I've become very good friends
with over the years. His name is Brian Stinson, and
he told me that they used to whenever they were
bored on sets. So what would happen is they would
pull you in to do these interviews, right, and they
would pull the moms in for about thirty minutes at
a time, and they would pull the girls in for
like ten minutes at a time, right, And so my
(21:03):
mom would be like in the room with the other
moms like doing their mom thing, fighting, making costumes, whatever
it was they were doing that day, and I would
come in there and my mom would be like, oh, honey,
how's your day. And I'd be like, oh good, I
just got done doing like a three hour interview. And
my mom was like what And I was like, yeah,
it was great, Like I was chilling about it, and
all the other moms were like uh huh, and everyone
(21:23):
was like, she's just making shit up like that. She's nine,
she doesn't know time yet, right, And I kept saying
that and kept doing that every single day, and I'd
be like, oh, yeah, I had rehearsal, and we rehearsed
for like thirty minutes. But then I went into like
a three hour interview, or I went into a two
hour interview, and finally my mom was like, honey, are
you actually doing this long of interviews? And I was
(21:43):
like yeah, all the time, and she was and she
was like, that's where you've been all days in an
interview and I'd be like yeah, And turns out I
find this out ten years later. Whenever the producers of
the show were bored on set, they would all go
to craw get a snack, go to what's called video Village,
which is where they have all of the monitors, right,
(22:05):
and that's like where they like normally watch the show
and stuff, and they would turn all the audio off
except for the monitor in my interview, and they would
pull me to do an interview, and they would make
one producer go interview me and one camera vengo sit there.
Everybody else on set would go in video village, turn
on the monitor and just watch. They called it the
(22:26):
Jojo Show, and they would just watch me talk for hours.
They would have an ear with the producer and they
would say what to ask me, and they like, I guess,
I guess I was just young, and I would spoken
and honest and kind of funny and like said what
everyone was thinking, but like with no fear, and so yeah,
that's why I had such long interviews because I was
(22:49):
personal entertainment. I guess, No, honestly, I look back though
at my journey on AUDC and I truly do have
some really fun memories. There was this one time where
we all me and all the girls we watched a
scary movie. It was I don't know, God, I'm never
gonna remember the movie. But then it was I said,
(23:09):
all the girls is if it was all the girls?
It was not all the girls. It was me, Colonie
and Haley. And then Haley had to walk back to
her apartment and it was literally like twelve feet away,
not far at all. She had to walk back. She
was in one of the houses and she goes to
walk back and she's like, guys, I'm scared. So then
Klannie runs around, hides in the bush and scares her.
(23:29):
She comes back. I hid in the other version. We
scare her and like just like so many fun silly
memories like that. Then we ended up walking her back
to her apartment. We weren't good at some point. There
was this one time me and Colonney were obsessed with
making video stars. We are obsessed with it. Video star
back of the day was like cap cut now, but
(23:51):
it was like so much better. We love video star
and so we'd make them all the time, and this
one night it was like freaking midnight, right and we
were outside making a video started Gangnum style and I
was like, Colonie, I have an idea, and Colonie was like, Geral,
I have an idea, and like, who's all my own idea?
I had idea, let's do this. I have an idea,
let's do that. And Cheryl the Twin Boys mom opens
(24:13):
her door and she goes, I have an idea, go
to sleep, and we like died laughing and ran upstairs.
And I thought it was so funny. We didn't need to
go to sleep. There's just so many fun little memories
like that. There was definitely a lot of hard times
on Abbey's Altoman dance competition. I think every week I
(24:34):
was fearful that I was going to go home. I
think every week I was fearful of messing up, not
maybe not messing up, but maybe maybe not being to
my greatest potential. I think that was something that my
mom was really good at of making sure she was
because I mean I was little, I was only nine,
and so making sure that she pushed me to my
(24:57):
potential without pushing me to my limit. There is definitely
a big difference. And I always say there's a difference
in good stage mom and psycho stage mom, and a
stage mom's a stage mom. But there are stage moms
like Beyonce's stage mom. There is stage moms like Christian Jenner,
and there's Jess Siah's. And my mom was always, always
(25:20):
a good stage mom. And if anybody out there doesn't
believe that, look at the history of my career, look
at the companies that I've worked for and continued to
work for. You know, I can guarantee that I would
not have worked for the biggest child network for eight
years without if my mom wasn't a good stage mom.
(25:43):
I can guarantee that Fox, who is now my number
one network, who I work with all the time. I've
done seven Fox shows, and I started working for Fox
when I was a minor, guarantee Fox would not have
continued using me if my mom was not a good
stage mom. And it's it's actually crazy. That's something that
(26:05):
they say can really make or break a child star's
career is their parent behind them, because it is it's
important that their parent has a lot of checks and balance.
You know, there's the balance of school, there's the balance
of childhood and there's the balance of career and stardom.
And I think for me, my mom saw something in
(26:25):
me that I couldn't see because I was just too young.
But looking back at it, I would have done everything
she did. She always just fought for what was right
for me, and at the same time, she always knew
she was making a TV show. Now that doesn't mean
she's staged anything or faked anything. It just means that
she knew what she got herself into and she was
(26:45):
there to do her job. So that's my that's my
little mom tangent that I'm going to go on really quick.
She was good. There was only there was one week
on ADC and it was the Vampire Dance that I
did with Clonnie where that was the one week where
I really feel like I wasn't wasn't at my best.
I think I was intimidated. I think I was tired.
(27:06):
I think I was exhausted. I was just I was done.
And my mom and I had a really good talk
and I told her, I was like, I'm just sick
of it. I'm sick of everyone telling me that I'm
not doing good. I'm sick of everyone all the other
girls being mean to me. I'm sick of everyone telling
me I'm not dancing mature enough. It's it's hard and
I'm a kid, and I don't like hearing this. And
(27:27):
she was really good at that point then of reeling
it in and reeling it back and being like, yes
you are. And then she was really good at being like, so,
do you want to go home? And I was like,
well no, and she was like, okay, so then let's
figure it out, you know what I mean. That's that
was something that my mom was always good with me,
Do you want to go home? And I always said no, absolutely, not,
(27:47):
even back in the day when I left dance Moms
my mom. My mom actually said the reverse of it.
She was like, say the word. Well, she would say
this on the one. She'd say, say the word and
we'll go say the word and we'll go home. I'm
not saying it. I am not saying it. I want
to stay. And she'd be like, it's so messed up
here say the words a week and go home, and
I'm like, no, I'm not saying it. I like it.
I like being on TV. And my mom was like,
(28:08):
you're crazy, and I was like, I'm crazy, and then
on Dance offic when I left Dance Moms, my mom
almost like, say the word and we'll go back. If
you want to go back that bad say the word
and we'll go back. And I was like for the
first time, I was like, word said, I want to
go back, And my mom was like, well no, she
was like I didn't expect that, sorry, because she knew
what was best for me, and so I gotta I
gotta believe her in that world. Now, I could deep
(28:32):
dive into my elimination on AUDC, but that, honestly, if
I watch that clip, it gets me to cry, and
so I'm afraid when I start to talk about it
that I'm going to start to cry. But here's the
thing is, I want to do a whole Jojo See
would Now podcast on all of my eliminations because I've
done so many elimination TV shows. Let's say I've done
(28:53):
Abby's Alto my dance Competition, I've done the Mass Singer,
I've done Sea Was Dance Proper Revolution, So you think
you can dance Dancing with the Stars, Special Forces America's
got talent. I don't know if I'm missing Eddie, but
I for sure no I've done those seven and I've
been on a few different ends. So Mass Singer, Dancing
(29:13):
with the Stars, Special Forces, Abby's on the dance competition,
I've been the one actually myself competing, and then she
was Dance Pop Revolution and two seasons of So You
Think You Can Dance? I've been the one on the
judging side, and then uh uh with America's Got Talent,
I've been the mentor. My girl group did America's Got Talent.
And what's crazy is all of those shows I have
(29:36):
never won. I have never walked away victorious. I think
Special Forces I did walk away victorious in one way,
but I did not get the Badge of Honor at
the end. It was fully my choice. But I think
it'd be kind of fun to talk about all the
different elimination experiences and what they've all kind of taught
me and meant to me, because they each do have
(29:58):
such a massive part of a learning curve of my life,
because they've all affected me in the deepest ways possible.
I mean the Mass Singer, I'm not joking you. I
cried for three days, like actual tears, actual sobbing, actual
could not pull it together, like cried more than I
did during my breakup and then I mean Dancing with
(30:18):
the Stars. Dancing with the Stars, I wasn't so much
said that I got second. I was more so sad
that it was over, and so that was a massive
learning curve. But there's so much that I could deep
dive on with just my elimination stories. And so if
you want that on a Joke's and Now podcast, let
me know, everybody. I truly enjoyed deep diving into AUDC
(30:40):
that that show has such a special place in my heart.
It always will. I feel like AUDC was the start
of so much, and it was. I mean, I think
without it, I don't know how my career would have started.
From There's when I went to Dance Moms. From there's
when I went to social media and music, and now
I'm here, you know what I mean. It's been a
(31:00):
lot of work and it's been a lot of journey
in my career. Timeline is absolutely crazy, and I do
truly a credit all of it to a UDC being
the start. I mean, it's it's physical proof. It literally
is the first thing that I ever did publicly. But
uh yeah, I always I'm curious about where my life
would be without it. I think I would be headed
(31:20):
in med school right now. I'd be in my last
year of college and I'd be going into med school
as much as I love that. Very grateful that I
am here in Atlanta right now filming So You Think
You Can Dance? Season eighteen. Uh. Anyways, everybody, I love
y'all so very much. Thank you for hanging out with me.
Thank you for listening to this Joe, Just You and
Now podcast. If you're ready for the eliminations episode, let
(31:43):
me know and I will see you all next time.
Deos is. Thank you so much for listening. Everybody. Be
sure to follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Jojoes
to a 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.
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