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JoJo Siwa dancing a jazz routine dressed as Pennywise is genuinely terrifying
Well, this is a change (Picture :Backgrid/Getty)
If you thought that Robert Webb dancing as Kermit the Frog and Adam Peaty painted as an Avatar on Strictly Come Dancing was pretty out-there, you may need to brace yourself for Dancing With The Stars.
On the US show’s horror week episode ahead of Halloween, JoJo Siwa performed dressed as Pennywise the clown from It, and we’ve never been so freaked out by a jazz routine.
The 18-year-old and her professional partner Jenna Johnson dressed up as Pennywise and the child in a yellow raincoat he lures to the drain to perform a jazz routine to a dramatic version of the Broadway classic Anything Goes by District 78 and Patrice Covington.
Emerging from fog with a red balloon, Pennywise/JoJo played a menacing game of cat and mouse with her victim, with a routine jam-packed with acrobatics, contemporary ballet and quirky jazz moves.
Amping up the horror, the dance ended with JoJo ripping off Jenna’s ‘arm’, and the dancer dropping to the ground and screaming.
Viewers were loving the surreal performance, with journalist Kevin Fallon tweeting: ‘Jojo Siwa as Pennywise from IT dancing to a jazz remix of “Anything Goes” on Dancing With the Stars just EGOT-ed.’
Comedian Michelle Collins added: ‘Ive never seen an ep of #DWTS in my life but real question is JOJO SIWA as PENNYWISE art????? Because honestly I think YES.’
Back in the ballroom, the judges were suitably impressed and petrified, particularly Derek Hough, who admitted it had a fear of clowns.
Calling JoJo a ‘terrific talent’, Bruno Tonioli said: ‘It is terrifying and absolutely brilliant. You turned a nightmare into a work of art.’
Former Strictly head judge Len Goodman added: ‘That was scary. I’m so glad I’ve got on my rubber underpants. If ever a dance captured the flavour of a book, that was it.’
The three judges, plus Carrie-Ann Inaba, gave JoJo and Jenna a perfect score of 40 – her second full house in a row following her Grease Week foxtrot to Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee.
Why wouldn’t a dance end with mutilation? (Picture: ABC)
Dance Moms star JoJo is a favourite to win the competition, having made history as part of the show’s first all-female same-sex couple.
These two perfect scores come after a difficult few weeks for JoJo, as the YouTuber has split from girlfriend Kylie Prew.
JoJo went public with Kylie, also 18, back in February, shortly after she came out as part of the LGBTQ+ community, and often shared sweet pictures with her girlfriend to social media.
She celebrated one month with Kylie with an Instagram post reading: ‘After being my best friend for over a year, January 8th 2021 I got to start calling this exceptional human my Girlfriend …
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‘And Since then I’ve been the happiest I have ever been! She seriously is the most loving, supportive, happiest, protective, and just the most beautiful perfect person in the world. And I get to call her mine! Happy one month to my girl! I love you more and more everyday! (sic).’
However, after 10 months, it was reported that the couple had split, and JoJo alluded to the break-up on DWTS, saying: ‘This week was very, very extreme and something that I had never gone through and something that I’ve never felt before. And it’s tough and it’s tricky, but luckily I have really good people in my life. And I’m really lucky that every day this week I got to spend three hours with my best friend in rehearsals and we got to dance.’
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