ABC’s Dancing With the Stars has tapped Nickelodeon teen star JoJo Siwa — who identifies as “pansexual” — as a contestant in the show’s first-ever same sex dance couple.
Dancing executive producer Andrew Llinares confirmed during the show’s Television Critics Association press tour panel on Thursday that Siwa will be paired with a female professional dancer while competing on Season 30, according to a report by TVLine.
The reality star added that when ABC contacted her team about competing on the show, Dancing With the Stars‘ casting coordinators asked if she wanted a male or female dance partner, and she chose female.
“It’s going to be tricky, but it’s going to give so much to people out there — people of the LGBTQ community, everyone,” Siwa said. “I want to make it okay for the people who come after me. No matter what [my girlfriend and I] are feeling, think about how normal we’re making things for the kids that are younger than us who are feeling these things.”
“It breaks a wall that’s never been broken down before,” added the star of Nickelodeon’s The JoJo & BowBow Show Show. “Not only do I get to share that you love who you want to love, but you also get to dance with who you want to dance with.”
JoJo Siwa performs onstage during day two of Nickelodeon’s Second Annual SlimeFest at Huntington Bank Pavilion on June 09, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images for Nickelodeon)
Siwa’s same-sex dance partner will reportedly not be revealed until the show’s season premiere on September 20.
In addition to being the first contestant on Dancing With the Stars to have a same-sex dance partner, Siwa also identifies as “pansexual” — a term referring to when someone is romantically attracted to anyone, regardless of whether they are a man, a woman, a man who identifies as a woman, or a woman who identifies as a man.
Nickelodeon is one of the many major networks that’s spent years working hand-in-hand with GLAAD to increase the number of opening LGBTQ people on some of TV’s most hyped shows. The networks — including, PBS and Cartoon Network — have signed onto GLAAD’s effort.
Watch below:
Nickelodeon is promoting Pride Month to children with a new video featuring drag queen Nina West, who sings about the meaning of all the colors on the “pride flag.”
As Breitbart News previously reported, a veritable tidal wave of gay representation has washed over children’s TV shows, with a 222 percent increase in LGBTQ characters and stories between 2017 and 2019 alone.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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