19 mind-blowing JoJo Siwa facts you probably never knew to celebrate her 19th birthday
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 21: JoJo Siwa attends the 2021 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on November 21, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for MRC )
If there’s one person who can define superstardom in 2022 – nay, the 21st century – it’s JoJo Siwa.
The former child sensation started from an eliminated contestant on a reality show to changing the course of fashion for kids with her iconic ‘JoJo bow’ and making history on Dancing with the Stars.
In celebration of her 19th birthday, it’s time to look back at her illustrious and glamorous career – and the impact she has already had. Here are 19 facts about the Gen Z sensation you probably never knew.
JoJo Siwa started her career at just nine-years-old
JoJo first appeared on our screens in 2013 in the second season of Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition.
She appeared alongside her mother and lasted 10 episodes before being eliminated in week nine. Since then, she has appeared as a guest on numerous shows, including Dance Moms, Good Day LA, Nickelodeon’s Ultimate Halloween Haunted House, and even SpongeBob Squarepants.
She made history on The Masked Singer
Siwa participated in season three of the incognito celebrity sleuth singing competition The Masked Singer as her alias “T-Rex”. She was just 16 during the broadcast, making her the youngest participant at the time.
She was the ninth celebrity to be discovered, coming after actor Bella Thorne as “Swan” and before former NFL player Rob Gronkowski as “White Tiger”.
And she made history yet again on Dancing with the Stars
In 2021 JoJo Siwa made TV history as part of Dancing with the Stars‘ first-ever same-sex duo.
She was a clear frontrunner with her professional dancing partner Jenna Johnson early on int he competition after several stellar performances that wowed judges and the fans alike, including a flawless performance to Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” in the finale.
Siwa has kept close ties with Johnson since leaving the show, saying her former dancing partner helps her “come out of my shell”.
“I came out once again! Second time around,” she joked.
Her bow collection is huge
As you can imagine, JoJo Siwa has a lot of bows. She has so many that she is legitimately lost count, but it’s certainly more than 1,000, according to a video in 2018.
As someone who started a worldwide craze surrounding bows, it’s only natural to have a few lying around. According to Siwa herself, they’re a symbol of “power, confidence, believing-ness”.
And her dog’s name is Bow Bow, naturally
If you’ve ever come across one of JoJo’s several books, you’ll know of her aptly named dog Bow Bow. Not only has she appeared in several videos and snippets with JoJo, but she has also featured in the title of eight books.
Bow Bow is a teacup Yorkie breed which means, despite being adorable, she is susceptible to several health issues including breathing problems and heart disease.
JoJo Siwa has a car with her own face on the front
JoJo owns a BMW 4 Series Convertible with her own marketable mug printed on the hood. Her parents gifted her the car for Christmas in 2018 after a concert tour.
The car starts at $71,800-$78,800 depending on engineer power, and that’s not factoring in the lucrative graphics put on top. Based on the basic pricing on West Coast Customs, where the car’s body kit was printed, it would have cost a good $5,000 at minimum.
She even has her own cereal, too
The American cereal Jojo Siwa Starberry Bop began production in 2021 by multinational manufacturer General Mills. It featured the titular Jojo Siwa on the front of the box and consisted of strawberry-flavoured corn puffs and bow-shaped marshmallow pieces.
The cereal is available in all major American retailers in both family-size and mid-size boxes. It hasn’t yet made its way outside America.
One of her first viral songs was about online bullying
The song “Boomerang” was first released in May of 2016 as a viral sensation. It has since gained 900 million views, 2.5 million likes, and numerous awards.
But the song is about something much more personal. JoJo admitted the song was about how online bullying can affect young people of today in an interview with Billboard, saying: “I never really had experienced hate in school with girls and boys. What I do experience is social media and so every day people comment, ‘You’re fat, you’re ugly, you’re rude, you’re all this stuff and I just don’t like it.”
JoJo Siwa is a Taurus
Jojo was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 19 2003 as Joelle Joanie Siwa. This makes her a Taurus. It also means that, by next year, Jojo will have spent the same amount of time famous as the time from her birth to her television debut – approximately 10 years.
Now, while it might make the average adult want cry that a person born in 2003 can be 19-years-old, it’s pertinent to remind you that similar internet sensation Rebecca Black’s debut happened more than a decade ago. Yikes.
She is one of TIME Magazine‘s 100 most influential people
It’s no surprise that the 19-year-old who started a viral fashion trend, has starred in numerous TV shows, music videos, and movies, and has their own cereal is influential – but Siwa is next level.
She was introduced into TIME Magazine‘s 100 most influential people in 2020, as well as Fast Company’s Queer 50 list in 2021 after coming out.
She’s a tad obsessed with onesies
Aside from the designer clothes and extravagant bows she is often seen wearing, one of JoJo’s biggest faves is her creature comforts, and onesies are the cherry on top.
In YouTube videos, she is often seen wearing the pyjamas and has exclaimed multiple times how much she likes them, even saying so in a video in 2016 where she is, yes, wearing a onesie.
The Jojo Siwa bow craze was so popular, that some schools banned them
In 2017, Siwa-fever was so widespread that kids across the world began wearing the ‘JoJo bow’. It was such a major fashion trend that several UK schools banned the look according to an article by the BBC.
Several schools issued statements saying that the bows breach uniform policy and forced students to take them off, causing a widespread debate on school uniforms in the UK.
Her coming out was nothing short of iconic
The star came out in January 2021 by sharing a photo of herself wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the words: “Best. Gay. Cousin. Ever.”
Earlier this year, on the anniversary of coming out, Siwa shared that she’d felt “more love than ever” from friends, fans and loved ones alike.
“A year ago today I posted this picture and shared with the world that I was gay,” she said. “I get asked a lot ‘was coming out scary for you’… and the answer is yes of course, anything that’s different about you is scary, however… it’s what makes me… me. So I had no fear with sharing it with the world.”
She considers herself to be pansexual but prefers the term, queer
During a 2021 interview with People magazine, JoJo spoke about coming out a few months after breaking up with TikTok star Mark Bontempo.
In the interview, she stated that “technically, I would say I am pansexual, because that’s how I’ve always been my whole life.” Later on, she would express her fondness for the terms “gay” and “queer”.
JoJo Siwa won the Favourite Social Music Star award twice in a row…
JoJo is no stranger to winning awards, with over four awards and three nominations from the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards alone, she has the credentials to back up her fame.
During both the 2019 and 2020 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, JoJo won the Favourite Social Music Star award. She was also nominated for Favourite TV Host in 2019 along with Nick Cannon.
…yet she wasn’t even invited to the 2022 Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards
She claimed she didn’t receive an invite despite having worked with the kids’ TV network since 2016 and yet again nominated for Favourite Social Music Star.
“I’m not sure why, but I just didn’t get an invite,” Siwa said. Some fans speculated that the lack of invite may have been due to her coming out and changing her signature look from a ponytail to a pixie cut.
She once feuded with Bieber for a brief period
Siwa and Bieber feuded for a brief period after Bieber commented “burn it” on an Instagram image JoJo had posted of her new BMW. The two eventually made amends, with Siwa saying Bieber should perform at her 16th birthday party to make up for it.
They once again feuded on January 11 2019 after Bieber once again wrote “burn it” over Siwa’s latest book at the time. Siwa then responded with an Instagram post of her reading the book to a cardboard cutout of him – that’ll teach him!
She is in The Angry Birds Movie 2
Siwa has starred in three films across her career, with other first being the Nickelodeon original movie Blurt! As well as this, Siwa also starred in The Angry Birds Movie 2.
In it, she plays Kira the golden eagle that makes a brief appearance in the film. Since then, Siwa has starred as herself in the 2021 movie The J Team.
JoJo Siwa appears as a playable character in Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2
Siwa also appeared as a playable character in Bamtang Games’ Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix alongside Nickelodeon classic characters like SpongeBob and Tommy Pickles.
The game was fairly well-received, gaining a 7/10 on IGN, saying it had “a great variety of characters from a bunch of Nick Series past and present.” The game is still available on Nintendo Switch, Playstation, Xbox, and PC.
