“She brings the comedy, she keeps it fun, she keeps lighthearted,” Siwa said of her fellow So You Think You Can Dance judge, Leah Remini
JoJo Siwa and Stephen “tWitch” Boss have nothing but love for their fellow So You Think You Can Dance judge, Leah Remini.
The judges of the Fox dance competition series recently appeared on E! News’ Daily Pop, where they explained why Remini, 52, is a great addition to the judges’ panel.
“She’s a hoot. She’s a riot. I love her,” Siwa, 19, told the outlet of Remini. “She brings the comedy, she keeps it fun, she keeps lighthearted.”
The Dance Moms alum added, “She’s very educated in art and in entertainment and in Hollywood, and so she brings that knowledge to the panel, which is really nice.”
Boss, 39, also had kind words to share about Remini, noting that she’s “amazing” in the role.
“I love it because we really do have a panel full of artists,” he said. “Even though her background is not in dance, she knows how to speak to performances that move.”
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Remini recently replaced Matthew Morrison as a judge on SYTYCD after he was removed from the series after allegedly contacting one of the dancers on social media and asking for her phone number.
A source told PEOPLE the messages were “flirty” in nature, though Morrison denied his motivations were inappropriate when he sent the messages.
“It’s really unfortunate that I have to sit here and defend myself and my family against blatantly untrue statements made anonymously, but I have nothing to hide,” he said in a video posted to Instagram earlier this month. “So, in the interest of transparency, I will read to you the one message I wrote to a dancer on the show.”
He then read the alleged message: “Hey, it’s Matthew. If you don’t mind, would love to get your number and talk you through some things.”
Morrison explained, “I sent this because this dancer and I both share a mutual respect for a choreographer that I’ve known for over 20 years and I was trying to help her get a job as a choreographer on the show.”
Though Remini has the support of Boss and Siwa, not everyone has been in favor of her taking over the gig, with some social media users claiming that she has “no place on this show” because she “doesn’t have a dance background.”
Remini has since hit back those claims, telling Entertainment Tonight, “Makes sense, why wouldn’t I be judging? I love dancing, I love dancers, I love dance shows, I love artists. I got a dance studio.”
The King of Queens alum also said she dances often, even if she’s not a pro. “People don’t know that I dance every day, but that doesn’t matter. I’m not trying to, like, make myself like, ‘Oh duh, I’m a dancer, I should be a judge.’ I’m not a dancer, but I’m a fan of the show. I love dance,” she said.
Remini isn’t the only judge whose qualifications have been questioned. Siwa also dismissed social media critics who claimed she doesn’t have the résumé to back up her place on SYTYCD.
After receiving backlash to her new gig, Siwa quote-tweeted one user’s complaint and asked, “literally why tweet this?”
In a follow-up tweet, Siwa outlined her lengthy credentials: “18 Years of Dance Knowledge, 4 Major dance TV shows, I’ve hired over 1000 dancers. 16 Dance music videos,” she wrote. “If you don’t like me that’s okay… but if you think I don’t know about dance ya just sound silly.”
So You Think You Can Dance airs Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.
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