JoJo Siwa was just nine years old when her glittering showbiz career began, with the talented dancer impressing viewers when she competed in the second season of Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition in 2013.
Since then, JoJo’s career has gone from strength to strength. In 2020, the child star was included in Time’s 2020 list of the 100 most influential people in the world, with JoJo maintaining a huge TV and social media presence.
In recent weeks, the now-20-year-old star has hit the headlines for her attention-grabbing “rebrand” as she launched her new music career.
This renewed interest in JoJo led to some people delving into her past, and one social media user was left shocked by one of the things that they unearthed.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, they expressed their surprise and horror at the fact that JoJo, who is famed for her blonde ponytail, is actually a natural brunette — and that her mom started bleaching her hair blonde when she was just two years old.
The tweet quickly racked up thousands of likes and retweets as other users flocked to share their shock over the revelation.
“no fuckign way holy shit,” one person wrote, before referencing the known impact of bleaching hair and adding: “that hair must be dry as hell."
While somebody else wrote: “i feel so bad for the little girl she used to be."
And it didn’t take long for an 11-year-old clip of JoJo’s appearance on Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition to resurface, confirming that the original tweet is true.
In the footage, Jessalyn can be seen bleaching her 9-year-old daughter’s hair, saying: “Nothing’s off limits when it comes to doing what I think will benefit JoJo. She’s the Rapunzel of 2013.”
She then tells JoJo: “You know, your hair’s getting really dark. We’re going to have to lighten this up.”
“Abby can’t say we didn’t go all out!” Jessalyn concludes.
JoJo previously revealed that she has a bald spot on her scalp, which she said was the result of a “stress rash” she developed while filming Dance Moms.
Last January, JoJo filmed a TikTok of herself reacting to a compilation of footage that showed Abby chastising her, including asking the other girls to write down reasons why JoJo shouldn’t be a part of the company as their homework.
Abby then screamed to the rest of the class: “She deserves nothing! Don’t have an attitude that you are entitled in this world. You deserve nothing.” Noticing JoJo’s tears, Abby then snapped: “No crying children.”
In June 2016, Abby was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for bankruptcy fraud and concealing money earned abroad. She was released in March 2018.