When the reality competition series Dancing With The Stars returns to television screens in September for season 30, contestants Sunisa "Suni" Lee and JoJo Siwa will be making history. The much-anticipated ABC show pairs professional dancers with celebrities, reality TV stars, and athletes. Each pair of dancers is given a different style every week. Their dances are choreographed and performed in front of a panel of judges and a TV audience, and viewers vote for their favorite stars online. The results are revealed the next day to see who stays and who leaves the competition.
The new season of Dancing With The Stars will be unlike any other. Olympic gymnast Suni Lee and YouTube star JoJo Siwa were announced before all the other contestants, which ABC hasn't done before. Suni Lee will be the first Hmong American to appear on the show and former Dance Moms star JoJo Siwa is the first contestant to have a same-sex dance partner. Both stars are 18 years old and can definitely attract a younger generation to the show. DWTS fans are eager to find out who each contestant will be paired up with for the competition season.
Suni Lee makes history as the first Hmong American woman on Dancing With The Stars. She has been an inspiration to young girls throughout her Olympic journey. Suni's Instagram following grew to 1.5M in a short amount of time. The Auburn University freshman shared her excitement about joining the show in a video on the DWTS Instagram page. "I'm so excited to be joining season 30 of Dancing With The Stars! See you all on the dance floor!" Suni Lee isn't the first gymnast to hit the dance floor. Olympians Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, and Laurie Hernandez all previously competed for the Mirrorball Trophy. Laurie and her DWTS partner Val Chmerkovskiy won the infamous prize in season 23. Suni Lee already proved to be a winner with three "box set" medals from Tokyo. There is no doubt she will do well in the competition, even if there isn't a trophy in her hands at the end.
JoJo Siwa is a role model for younger generations on Dancing With The Stars. JoJo is no stranger to dance competitions or reality TV shows. JoJo was on Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition season 2 and rose to fame while starring on Dance Moms seasons 5 and 6. JoJo posted a video shoutout on the DWTS Instagram page. She said, "I am so excited to be a part of this year's DWTS season 30 and to dance with a girl! I think it's so cool!" It's unclear whether JoJo's dance skills will translate well on the show, but having previous experience gives her a greater chance to win. Since JoJo is the first person to be paired with a same-sex dancer, viewers from the LGBTQ+ community finally feel like they are represented on DWTS. JoJo has a strong following on Instagram with 10.9M followers, and most of them will be watching her compete on TV.
The upcoming season of Dancing With The Stars will make long-time watchers and new fans very satisfied. Adding Suni Lee and Jojo Siwa to DWTS season 30 brings more viewers and better representation to the series. Audiences can look forward to seeing how the 18-year-olds will do while competing for the Mirrorball Trophy.
Dancing With the Stars season 30 premieres Monday, September 20 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
Source: Dancing With The Stars/Instagram, JoJo Siwa/Instagram, Sunisa Lee/Instagram