JoJo Siwa Talks Future Of ‘Dance Moms,’ New Coach Cheryl Burke

JoJo Siwa showed up to the Nickelodeon HALO Awards orange carpet on Saturday in New York City in a fully bedazzled outfit and ready to chat with International Business Times about all things “Dance Moms” and Nickelodeon.

In speaking about how “Dancing With the Stars” pro Cheryl Burke succeeded Abby Lee Miller as the coach on Lifetime’s “Dance Moms” towards the end of the Season 7, which ended on Oct. 24, Siwa said she thinks Burke “was really good” and “amazing” on the Lifetime series.

Siwa left “Dance Moms” after two years when a “big opportunity” that she couldn’t turn down presented itself, though she said she still watched the show after she left because she loves it “so much.”

“It is basically what got me started,”JoJo told IBT. “It is my platform. So, this show, honestly, gave me so much that I am so thankful for.”

She’s so thankful that she still has all the best wishes for the show and still likes to keep tabs on how it’s doing and what its future looks like. She even made a cameo on the Season 7 finale.

“I heard the show did really good this season, so hopefully they’ll be back for next season,” JoJo said.

While the “Dance Moms” alum is grateful for her time on the show, she’s very excited about the new projects she’s been working on over at Nickelodeon.

She’s currently part of the networks competition series, “Lip Sync Battle Shorties,” where everyday kids participate in a lip-synching competition. Siwa provides commentary, while Nick Cannon hosts.

To date, the “Lip Sync Battle” spinoff series has only had one episode, a Halloween special, but there’s a holiday special coming up in December and then the real show premieres in 2018.

“The show is so amazing,” Siwa said of the competition series. “I heard it did really, really well and blew everyone’s expectations away, so thank you to the fans for that. But, seriously, it’s just such an amazing show and I love it so much.”

While she didn’t want to “spoil too much” about the upcoming special, she said that “if you’ve seen the Halloween special, just expect it like that, but a lot better.”

Besides her commentating-duties, the 14-year-old will also be acting in a new Nickelodeon TV movie called “Blurt,” which is set to premiere in February 2018.

“I’m so excited for ‘Blurt.’ It’s going to be amazing,” she said. “I starred in it with Jace Norman and Daniella Perkins and basically, I am Jace Norman’s little sister and it was just so fun to film up in Canada. It was amazing and it was just a good time hanging out with everyone.”

Look out for “Lip Sync Battle Shorties” holiday special airing on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. EST/PST on Nickelodeon.