Olivia Jade Giannulli is being bashed for her introduction on the Dancing With The Stars season 30 premiere. Olivia grew up in the spotlight. Her mom is famous actress Lori Loughlin, who is best known for her role on hit sitcom Full House. Lori and her husband, Mossimo Gianulli, were a part of the 2019 college admissions scandal, resulting in them both spending time behind bars.
Olivia was one of 15 celebrities who joined the cast of Dancing With The Stars season 30. She, along with the rest of the cast, made her debut in the ballroom on Monday night. This season, Olivia is dancing alongside professional dancer Val Chmerkovskiy. Longtime viewers of the show were uncertain about Olivia's casting due to her involvement in the college admissions scandal. This has ultimately made her the most controversial contestant this season.
In the aftermath of her DWTS debut, Olivia is being bashed by fans but not for her dancing skills. According to Decider, viewers are mocking Olivia for her introduction on the show. Prior to her first performance, a short video played in which Olivia met her partner and introduced herself to viewers. Olivia claimed she is best known for being an influencer; however, fans begged to differ. They took to Twitter to mock Olivia, claiming she is actually best known for her involvement in the college admissions scandal. While many users used different GIFs to make fun of her introduction, Twitter user @mayalovesfendi wrote, "No one needs to worry about voting for Olivia Jade, her parents will buy her the votes anyway." Another joked that she is actually better known for her rowing skills, referencing the staged photos from the college scandal, which involved both Olivia and her sister being recruits for the school's crew team.
Despite the backlash, Olivia did in fact acknowledge the scandal in her introduction, saying, "But the last few years, I’ve been, I guess you could say, wrapped up in a scandal. After everything happened, I did step back from social media and just soaked in what everybody was saying." She even clarified that she is not doing the show for a "pity card." Instead, Olivia wants to open doors to a new chapter of her life. Although she is already getting backlash for being on the show, Olivia is hopeful that fans will see another side to her from her time in the ballroom this season.
Prior to joining the cast of Dancing With The Stars, Olivia had recently made her return to social media following the ongoing drama from the 2019 scandal. Despite the initial backlash she received prior to the show's premiere, Olivia was all smiles as she made her debut in the ballroom. Olivia and Val are already back in the studio rehearsing for their second dance in the ballroom next week, which will be followed by the first live elimination of DWTS season 30 as well.
Dancing With The Stars airs Mondays at 8pm on ABC.
Sources: Decider, @mayalovesfendi/Twitter