Speaker 1: You're listening to Jojasua Now with me Joja Ciua and
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio Podcast.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to Jojaswan Now.
Speaker 1: This is part two with my favorite human in the
Speaker 1: whole world, Jenna Johnson. I want to know you get
Speaker 1: the phone call were you were? You asked prior to
Speaker 1: meeting me if you would be open to having another
Speaker 1: female as your star.
Speaker 2: So this is how it went down. I was called
Speaker 2: by the producers, the executives, and they were like, hey,
Speaker 2: we just wanted to talk with you really quick. And
Speaker 2: again this is before I'd been picked up, so we
Speaker 2: were all waiting for the phone call to like, oh,
Speaker 2: you're on the season. And I thought that this was
Speaker 2: just gonna be like my phone call of like oh
Speaker 2: you're on the season. Anyway, so they were They called
Speaker 2: me and they were like, Hey, we're gonna do something
Speaker 2: really groundbreaking the season and we're gonna have the first
Speaker 2: ever same sex pairing. And I was like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: that's amazing, And for some reason, immediately my brain thought
Speaker 2: to boys really and so I thought they were going
Speaker 2: to be like, you know, what do you think about this?
Speaker 2: How should we approach this? Do you have any advice? Yeah,
Speaker 2: that they would be asking me for advice for it.
Speaker 2: But literally, in my mind, I was like, they're going
Speaker 2: to have two boys, and I was like, that is amazing.
Speaker 2: The next sentence that came out of their mouth was
Speaker 2: it's a female and would you be really willing to
Speaker 2: dance with a girl this season? And I was like yes, yeah,
Speaker 2: and I said yes immediately, and I was like yes.
Speaker 2: It's like I don't know if I can't, if I'm
Speaker 2: capable of this moment, but yes, and then we hung up.
Speaker 2: They were like, oh, that would be so great. They
Speaker 2: didn't tell me at first who it was. Yeah. Then
Speaker 2: we hang up and I sat for the rest of
Speaker 2: the day having a panic attack. Really, I was just
Speaker 2: like again because I didn't know it was you. Yeah,
Speaker 2: So I was.
Speaker 1: Like, I think something that did make it special was
Speaker 1: that we could actually go somewhere, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: Like we had dance that we could do, Versus if
Speaker 1: you were to do this with somebody who couldn't dance,
Speaker 1: it would have been or I mean, I guess I
Speaker 1: was jumping in a dance that I didn't know how
Speaker 1: to do.
Speaker 2: I never had done ballroom, but it was what at least.
Speaker 1: Could pick the language. If you went with someone with nothing,
Speaker 1: it would have been like, oh god.
Speaker 2: And I don't want this to sound weird or creepy
Speaker 2: in anyway. But I think also I didn't know if
Speaker 2: it was going to be somebody older or my age
Speaker 2: and how that would really register to our audience, because
Speaker 2: it was such a huge moment at first. But yeah, no,
Speaker 2: that's not you know, and so I was just like, oh, like,
Speaker 2: what is this going to even look like? So I
Speaker 2: think when then I found out it was you, I
Speaker 2: had a bit more excitement of like, Okay, I think
Speaker 2: that this could work, Like she's young, We'll be able
Speaker 2: to like hopefully dance and creative, Like we'll at least
Speaker 2: be able to be creative with this and not make
Speaker 2: this feel cringe, because that was my biggest line. I
Speaker 2: knew that this could be such a powerful moment, and
Speaker 2: I didn't want people to be like, oh, that was disgusting, right,
Speaker 2: you know, because that's not how it is.
Speaker 1: And a lot of times, even just in general with sexuality,
Speaker 1: a lot of people, everything is sexualized, everything is sexualized,
Speaker 1: and people are so new to it, yeah you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, And so people are gonna see I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's kind of unfair to say because they do
Speaker 1: this anyways, with Dancing with the Stars, they see a
Speaker 1: partnership and they're like, they're married.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: But then it's somehow when it's two females, even if
Speaker 1: you're just friends, like if I'm friends with another female,
Speaker 1: people are like.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, they are dating. Well, and then we're
Speaker 2: doing the rumba or whatever. You know, that's in my
Speaker 2: memories unlocked, good memory, good week for us. Good anyway,
Speaker 2: So I think I think I was a little bit nervous,
Speaker 2: and then once we met, Yeah, literally every fear went
Speaker 2: away because we immediately connected. So right, yeah, right, and
Speaker 2: then it was just like again, back to that, how
Speaker 2: do I prove people wrong? I wanted to be so
Speaker 2: creative with you and show such a magical experience. And
Speaker 2: I'm so proud of us because I think week one
Speaker 2: we were expecting a lot of backlash or a lot
Speaker 2: of negativity, and everybody was so supportive. You know, it
Speaker 2: isn't throughout this season. No matter what dance we did,
Speaker 2: there was never like anything hateful or rude, which I
Speaker 2: think was so you did it in such a beautiful way.
Speaker 2: We did it in such a beautiful way. But thank you.
Speaker 2: But you know, I did make up one a count
Speaker 2: in our freestyle.
Speaker 1: I did take my credit for and I did suggest
Speaker 1: the tinsaca and Penny.
Speaker 2: You did no. I'm just I'm so so grateful that
Speaker 2: a I said yes, because I've never been pushed like
Speaker 2: that on the show. You know, I think you we
Speaker 2: get consistent of like, oh, I know that my guy
Speaker 2: will stand there, he'll look big, I'll do a dip
Speaker 2: on him, he'll pay me up and he'll just like
Speaker 2: and I'll be sexy around him. But this I really
Speaker 2: had to push myself creatively and I needed that.
Speaker 1: I'm laughing because I have all these memories of any
Speaker 1: time we would go to just do something, whether Jenna
Speaker 1: was gonna jump on me or whether she was gonna
Speaker 1: dip whatever, she would just say that. She would say,
Speaker 1: stand there, be stable.
Speaker 2: Jenna, that doesn't help. What are you gonna do? And
Speaker 2: she'd like, just be stable, and I'm like, I don't
Speaker 2: know what to expect. But all of a sudden, she's
Speaker 2: on my shoulders.
Speaker 1: I'm like, what, hew crazy? Yeah, she she really went
Speaker 1: all the way in. Well, I got to say that
Speaker 1: I am very, very grateful that you said yes. I
Speaker 1: look at everybody on the show, and I love everybody.
Speaker 1: I love all of the pros. I could not imagine
Speaker 1: myself having any of the other females as a pro
Speaker 1: like it. I'm so grateful that the world aligned for
Speaker 1: you to be the pro that did this. I think
Speaker 1: it was something that was so big, not not even
Speaker 1: just for the LGBTQ community, but just for the world
Speaker 1: to just normalize. You know, it is what it is,
Speaker 1: and it's two two females doing something together. Doesn't have
Speaker 1: to be in a in a over sexualized way like
Speaker 1: it just it just was so cool. It was so
Speaker 1: unique and it was done so well. But I'm I mean,
Speaker 1: I picture it all the time. I'm like, what if I.
Speaker 2: Was with Lindsay, Like, it just wouldn't have worked. I
Speaker 2: love Lindy. I think you could have done it. But
Speaker 2: I think I think that was a big thing for
Speaker 2: me is after that phone call with the producers, you know,
Speaker 2: I sat there and I was like, well, how how
Speaker 2: will I feel if somebody else gets to dance with her? Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, and I was like, I'll be really jealous,
Speaker 2: Like because I knew that it could be something epic.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you you you made it something epic. I
Speaker 1: will give you that credit all the time. Okay, So
Speaker 1: then let's we got a lot to get there. So
Speaker 1: you it's it's day one. That's the only only thing
Speaker 1: that I want to spend a lot of time on.
Speaker 1: It's day one.
Speaker 2: Right, you're standing there.
Speaker 1: Now, you know you're gonna have the same The pros
Speaker 1: don't necessarily know who they're getting as a star. But
Speaker 1: the press release was released that I was doing it,
Speaker 1: that I was gonna be the first same sex couple.
Speaker 1: You knew you're gonna have his first same sex couple.
Speaker 1: I walk in the door, you already know it's gonna
Speaker 1: be me, but it's your first time seeing me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what's going through your brain? I remember that first
Speaker 2: met I was like shaking if they had me preset
Speaker 2: in the room and they were like, okay, she's gonna
Speaker 2: walk in and I was just like here we go,
Speaker 2: just like no shaking, Like I had no idea what
Speaker 2: to expect. Again, I think, you know, everybody always visualizes
Speaker 2: you as this like massive, loud human, which you are
Speaker 2: at times, but it's but then you're also this very respectful, polite, quiet,
Speaker 2: determined person, and I was not expecting that. So you
Speaker 2: came in with a lot of energy, which I loved,
Speaker 2: which was great, which I needed because I was like
Speaker 2: shaking in my boots, and then you were just like focused.
Speaker 2: I thought maybe you were going to be like a
Speaker 2: little rude or disrespectful or like, I don't want to
Speaker 2: do that, but I just did you. I mean I
Speaker 2: was a baby, but you just soaked in everything and
Speaker 2: it was literally the dream partner. Like you can't ask
Speaker 2: for anybody better than somebody that has that intention going
Speaker 2: into the show.
Speaker 1: I always say, I'm like, I don't know if Jenna
Speaker 1: will have somebody. You might have somebody that's better than me.
Speaker 1: You might have somebody that looks better than me, that's
Speaker 1: strong than me, but you will never ever ever have somebody.
Speaker 2: That cares more than I cared. But I will stand
Speaker 2: by that you cared a lot. And last thing I'm
Speaker 2: gonna I'm gonna say about the first meat. When we
Speaker 2: first met, you were wearing so many layers and I
Speaker 2: was like, we're about to talk about day two, Okay,
Speaker 2: a lot of layers. We had like a shirt, a
Speaker 2: tank top under a jacket over like huge glittered pants,
Speaker 2: huge chunky shoes, and I was like, hey, a lot
Speaker 2: of layers. Layers I have gold. The Day two story
Speaker 2: a bunch.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you'll remember the day two story,
Speaker 1: but I'm once I kind of get you going.
Speaker 2: I think you'll remember. Okay, right, I remember, like a
Speaker 2: few days later story of the leotard. I always call
Speaker 2: it okay, but you go day two and then I'll
Speaker 2: go leotard. Maybe it wasn't day two.
Speaker 1: I just remember it was very very early in the beginning,
Speaker 1: and in my brain it's day two, but I'm sure
Speaker 1: there was days in there, because there was a day
Speaker 1: where with a Mickey shirt and how to turn it
Speaker 1: inside out. You were like, we're on car, you can't
Speaker 1: wear Mickey Mouse shirt. I was like, oh, duh, obviously.
Speaker 1: So it was a few days later. But the story
Speaker 1: of when you were you asked me in a very
Speaker 1: respectful way, and I was wearing something under it to
Speaker 1: take my shirt off, and I broke down that story
Speaker 1: but from your perspective.
Speaker 2: And then we stood in front of the mirror. Because
Speaker 2: I've told the story of Bunch, I know how I
Speaker 2: remember it, but I want to hear it how you do.
Speaker 2: So she was wearing this like shiny blue leotard. I'll
Speaker 2: never forget it. And it was like a razorback right.
Speaker 1: It was like a gymnastics it was. I had gotten
Speaker 1: in an adult medium.
Speaker 2: Very high neck six straps, like it wasn't a spaghetti
Speaker 2: strap or like lo v. It was very high neck,
Speaker 2: chunky straps. And she was wearing this massive netted shirt
Speaker 2: over that kept getting caught in our hands and I
Speaker 2: was like, dude, you need to take this off, and
Speaker 2: like you kind of brushed it off at first. You're
Speaker 2: like no, no, like it's fine, you know, and I was
Speaker 2: just like okay, So we kept rehearsing. It was just
Speaker 2: getting in the way and I couldn't see your body lines,
Speaker 2: and so I was getting upset. I was just like
Speaker 2: yes because I want to see what your body's doing.
Speaker 2: And so I was like, you need to take this off.
Speaker 2: And her face like kind of went white, pale white,
Speaker 2: and then I could kind of see like rosy cheeks happening,
Speaker 2: and then it was like a little bit eyes are
Speaker 2: welling up and she's like no, no, don't make me, please,
Speaker 2: don't make me do this. I was like, oh, oh,
Speaker 2: we're having this is the thing, and then I was
Speaker 2: like pissed at you because I was like, wait, are
Speaker 2: you for real right now? Not because I was like
Speaker 2: just listen to me, because I was like, oh, she's
Speaker 2: very upset about how she looks.
Speaker 1: You're the first person ever that figured it out. I ever,
Speaker 1: it was like so upsetting to me. And I kept
Speaker 1: saying like, I just I wish you could see how
Speaker 1: I see you because I just saw this like gorgeous
Speaker 1: being was so much light and anyway. So after convincing her,
Speaker 1: I just kindly asked her like please, I need you
Speaker 1: to take it off, like this is bigger than this
Speaker 1: getting caught in our hands. This is like a moment
Speaker 1: that we need to embrace. So she took it off
Speaker 1: and she just sat in the mirror and she wouldn't
Speaker 1: look at herself in the mirror, but she was just
Speaker 1: crying tears solving, tears running down her face. And I
Speaker 1: was like, Jojo, what is going on? And I think
Speaker 1: you said something about like your arms, like I hate
Speaker 1: my arms. I don't want to look at myself.
Speaker 2: My arms, my legs, my chest, my shoulders, everything, And
Speaker 2: so we held hands, we looked into the mirror and
Speaker 2: we were just like appreciating ourselves for a second and
Speaker 2: our gorgeous bodies that are allowing us to dance. And
Speaker 2: I just I think I remember telling you to repeat
Speaker 2: to yourself myself. I there's a very powerful book that
Speaker 2: I read that you know suggests that you say I
Speaker 2: love myself to yourself many times a day. And for
Speaker 2: somebody that has dealt with a lot of body shaming,
Speaker 2: a lot of body dysmorphia myself and a huge body transformation,
Speaker 2: I just knew how big this moment was for you.
Speaker 2: And I wish somebody would have snapped me into gear
Speaker 2: a lot earlier so I didn't have to literally hate
Speaker 2: myself and ruin myself for years to come. So I
Speaker 2: know that that was like a really uncomfortable day, but
Speaker 2: but it fixed me. I'm so grateful. A second and
Speaker 2: then a couple of days later, you like came in
Speaker 2: in the crop top and again, and I don't want
Speaker 2: it to be like we need to show our skin,
Speaker 2: we need to whatever, Like that's not me, But I
Speaker 2: think we need to be really cold. I was.
Speaker 1: I was overcovering because I was so insecure. I know
Speaker 1: that it was when I started to dress normal for
Speaker 1: a dance rehearsal. It was even though like every other
Speaker 1: girl there was wearing anybity outfit, I couldn't like it.
Speaker 1: But then once I finally started to dress like everyone
Speaker 1: else went to a rehearsal, it was monumental.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you really, you really you you You fixed a
Speaker 1: problem in me that I think I was always too
Speaker 1: scared to admit, which is why I never talked about
Speaker 1: it to anyone or did anything about it. I just
Speaker 1: always say I just want to wear long sleeves, like yeah, always.
Speaker 1: If you look at me, from any time I was
Speaker 1: fourteen to eighteen, it was all long sleeves. Yeah. That
Speaker 1: was That was a day though, that that changed my life.
Speaker 1: And that was also a day because it was so
Speaker 1: early in our friendship. But you were able to find
Speaker 1: a piece of me that no one else did. That
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, she's in.
Speaker 2: I just were in. I think I saw so much
Speaker 2: of my younger self and you, and I just felt
Speaker 2: immediately protective. Like even those in the first few weeks
Speaker 2: of us meeting, I was just already so protective of you. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and of how you viewed yourself. Yeah, because you're You're gorgeous,
Speaker 2: You're the best.
Speaker 1: You God, I love you, Jenna. I feel like I'm
Speaker 1: like owl, like you're just like literally just like my home.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: We could go into Dancing with the Stars and talk
Speaker 1: every single week about every single memory, but I made
Speaker 1: I made a little list of memories unlocked to just
Speaker 1: laugh about and to tell quick stories about.
Speaker 2: I can't wait. First thing on my lip.
Speaker 1: This was I think it was week one or two.
Speaker 1: We're in the trailer. Oh no, we are exhausted. Show
Speaker 1: is over, Show is just happened. I think it was
Speaker 1: week one. Correct if I'm wrong, but I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: with it was week one. We're in the trailer. We
Speaker 1: were exhausted. I had some flowers. We sit on the couch.
Speaker 1: I saw on the couch, Jenna's on the chair. The
Speaker 1: flowers dip over and Jenna does nothing.
Speaker 2: I do nothing.
Speaker 1: The flowers starts feeling everywhere. Jenna goes, points at it
Speaker 1: dead pan. We're so exhausted. Neither of us touch it.
Speaker 1: We let it keeps feeling water waters, water, water. Then
Speaker 1: she grabbed one paper towel and said.
Speaker 2: A quick fix. It just so serious. Water. Honestly, I
Speaker 2: think I was just like so, you know, especially because
Speaker 2: there's so much lead up to that premiere. You are
Speaker 2: just waiting and waiting and waiting for this moment, and
Speaker 2: then it was finally over. We'd done all the press
Speaker 2: and we were just lifeless. It felt like just I
Speaker 2: couldn't move, but I knew that the water was stipping
Speaker 2: from the flowers. Yeah, lifeless water, water flowers. I'm not
Speaker 2: sure who I thought was going to pick it up?
Speaker 2: No one, No one, speaking of no one.
Speaker 1: Next memory is we're in rehearsal. It is either Halloween week,
Speaker 1: before Halloween week or after Halloween week.
Speaker 2: The door opening what you said, spooky, So the door
Speaker 2: just opens randomly.
Speaker 1: Neither of us are scared, neither of us are feeling
Speaker 1: like going to see what's happening.
Speaker 2: She just looks at it. Spooky. I'm all about one liners,
Speaker 2: you know. Oh no, oh no, we talked about this
Speaker 2: on TikTok before. Oh my gosh, I know what this
Speaker 2: is Jojo meldown, which every Friday. But this is one
Speaker 2: specific melt. Okay, let me tell this story. Let me
Speaker 2: tell this story. So, yes, okay, so this was Halloween
Speaker 2: week correct, No no, no, this is semifinals. No, this
Speaker 2: was when Oh this was contemporary? No no, no, this is contemporary. Okay,
Speaker 2: So this is semifinals. We're doing it contemporary. And I
Speaker 2: always take contemporary very seriously because this is meant to
Speaker 2: be my style, and like you know, I have to
Speaker 2: keep up my reputation of contemporary in the ballroom. So
Speaker 2: and I had Jojo freaking sea Wan. I was like,
Speaker 2: we could do turn really well, and she wouldn't let
Speaker 2: her wear a shoe. I'll talk about a second. You
Speaker 2: gotta do beare feet anyway, So we're rehearsing, We're rehearsing,
Speaker 2: and I'm I'm going to take this. This is my fault.
Speaker 2: I was like very stressed out this week because.
Speaker 1: Again, also in the semifinals, we have seen each other
Speaker 1: every single.
Speaker 2: No, that's not about it. I could spend every day
Speaker 2: with you. It was the fact that in my mind,
Speaker 2: this is a little this is a little teaser. I
Speaker 2: feel like you always win it in the semifinals, which no,
Speaker 2: I'm wrong, but yeah, because I was always we won
Speaker 2: the semi Yes, for sure. I was always under the
Speaker 2: impression like you really win it in the semifinals. And
Speaker 2: so semifinals, we're dancing, we're doing our contemporary and we're
Speaker 2: just like running it and running it and running it,
Speaker 2: and I think we decided that we wanted to have
Speaker 2: our hair down, or both of us had our hair down. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and we were filming our why we were filming the wide,
Speaker 2: and our dance was hard to get through, like it
Speaker 2: was we had big lifts in it. Yeah, it was.
Speaker 2: It was hard for the listeners if you don't know
Speaker 2: what a why it is. Every Friday we had to
Speaker 2: you have to on Dancing with the Stars film a
Speaker 2: wide of your dance that then gets sent into production.
Speaker 2: And everybody thinks that this is how they arranged the
Speaker 2: order of the show, but I actually don't think that's true.
Speaker 2: But so there's like a lot of pressure on us.
Speaker 2: You want to do a good dance for smallso all
Speaker 2: the producers see it, and then you want a good order,
Speaker 2: and so there's a lot of pressure for the wide.
Speaker 2: So we're shooting our wide. This is probably like take four.
Speaker 2: We're doing it, Jojo. There was this part that I
Speaker 2: go on the ground and my hair was like splayed everywhere,
Speaker 2: and she accidentally her heel like gotten caught caught on
Speaker 2: my hair and I'm supposed to spin and it wasn't
Speaker 2: my fault, and it wasn't her. No, it just was
Speaker 2: like the universe and the heel, it just like what
Speaker 2: had on. And so my head got caught and was like,
Speaker 2: I looked ridiculous. She looked great. I looked ridiculous, and
Speaker 2: I felt like I had ruined the wide. So we
Speaker 2: got up, we finished the routine. We finished it, but
Speaker 2: then watching it back, I was just like, I look
Speaker 2: stupid and this we can't use this wide? And what
Speaker 2: did I know? You're missing the whole story. No, no,
Speaker 2: we finished.
Speaker 1: The dance finish and you were like we ended, you
Speaker 1: walk off and you're off here when you're like, oh, it.
Speaker 2: Was so good. I'm so mad that that happened. And
Speaker 2: I said, oh yes, oh yeah, she you can say
Speaker 2: what but you say what you said?
Speaker 1: I said, will you notice, like on the video? Will
Speaker 1: you even notice that that happened?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 1: I have this engraved in my brain. It was also
Speaker 1: my toe that got stuck, not the heel, but I
Speaker 1: was just gonna let the heel go.
Speaker 2: Okay, So I said, will you notice Jenna thought?
Speaker 1: I said, I noticed, being sassy, Oh saying that I noticed?
Speaker 1: When I tell you, Jenna walked out of the room. No, no, no,
Speaker 1: this is why I thought.
Speaker 2: She said I noticed, and I was like, you know what,
Speaker 2: good for her for standing up because I'm being a
Speaker 2: little swear word right now. Yeah. So I was like,
Speaker 2: I need to take five because I need to be
Speaker 2: better in the room. So I just like I walked off.
Speaker 2: I went and got some water in my head.
Speaker 1: She is so mad at me because I stepped on
Speaker 1: her hair. Jenna, to me, is this perfect little baby
Speaker 1: angel that I would do nothing, nothing wrong too. I
Speaker 1: would never say anything wrong to and dear, I would
Speaker 1: never ever ever hurt this perfect little angel. I warranted it.
Speaker 2: It was me. I was like so dramatic. I was like,
Speaker 2: oh that was so good. I'm so mad about that part.
Speaker 2: And so I thought she was standing up for herself
Speaker 2: and she was like I noticed that.
Speaker 1: I was really being like sweetened innocent, like will you
Speaker 1: notice on the video, Like will it even matter?
Speaker 2: So then we come back and we have we know
Speaker 2: you were crying, yet we hadn't really like that. It
Speaker 2: was like a little bit dead silent for a sec.
Speaker 2: And I come back in and I was like, Okay,
Speaker 2: I'm ready to apologize to her, like I was really
Speaker 2: in the wrong. So I come back and I'm like, Joelle,
Speaker 2: I'm really proud of you for standing up for yourself.
Speaker 2: I'm really sorry that I said that. And you were like,
Speaker 2: what what do you mean? I was like, you you know,
Speaker 2: you like kind of talked back to me, and I'm
Speaker 2: really proud of you. Like I was said the wrong.
Speaker 2: This is exactly what happened. Tears, sobbing, sobbing, streaming. I
Speaker 2: would never talk back to you. I was like, what
Speaker 2: is happening. You should have I'm telling you, good job.
Speaker 1: This is exactly the tone that Johnah was into, like laughing,
Speaker 1: and then I.
Speaker 2: Was laughing and I was like, wait, what is going
Speaker 2: on with you?
Speaker 1: So then I explained to her. I was like, I said,
Speaker 1: will you know? So She's like, no, you didn't. You
Speaker 1: stood up to me and like that was good. You
Speaker 1: needed to, Like I'm proud of you. And I was like, no,
Speaker 1: watch the video.
Speaker 2: I swear I didn't.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't ever, so we thank god I got the
Speaker 1: will you notice on video?
Speaker 2: Oh my god, it was so good. It was so good.
Speaker 2: It was the weirdest fight I've ever.
Speaker 1: Jenna then was like I'm gonna leave for another five minutes,
Speaker 1: go get ton coke, fix yourself. But when I get back,
Speaker 1: it was laughing. Oh my god, it was so good. Okay,
Speaker 1: I got a couple more.
Speaker 2: Oh my god.
Speaker 1: There was this one week there was moving to body language.
Speaker 1: Do you remember we were doing body language and know
Speaker 1: how to teach me how to walk, to teach me
Speaker 1: how to walk?
Speaker 2: No, it was sexy walk. Sexy walk.
Speaker 1: Anyway, she taught me how to sexy walk and we're
Speaker 1: doing it and then all of a sudden, I was like,
Speaker 1: you know, I think I got a blister.
Speaker 2: And I was like, but it's.
Speaker 1: Fine, we can do it again. After we did it again,
Speaker 1: we finally took my shoe off.
Speaker 2: Her whole heel was coming off. Literally, my whole heel
Speaker 2: was a blister. Oh slight memory. And you're being such
Speaker 2: a good scor and kept for her, saying those shoes
Speaker 2: that I made you.
Speaker 1: I was like, fear, okay, So when you would teach
Speaker 1: me a lift, were you ever like, oh god, I'm
Speaker 1: going down?
Speaker 2: Uh No, because I don't really have any fear, And
Speaker 2: I think I just trusted you. Yeah, and I knew
Speaker 2: that you were never going down on my watch. Yeah.
Speaker 2: The only way that I knew that we would like
Speaker 2: figure out if we could do it is if we
Speaker 2: just attempted it, yeah, and just went for it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: Walls to the Wall went for it. There's this one
Speaker 2: lift that we tried.
Speaker 1: It was our very first lift, very first time to
Speaker 1: music is Argentine Tango Hit Me Baby one More Time,
Speaker 1: And it was the first time we did it. I
Speaker 1: posted the video where everyone's people have loved the video.
Speaker 1: They watch it all the time, where I mean, we
Speaker 1: I drop you, but I don't drop you.
Speaker 2: But you still saved me. But we timper down.
Speaker 1: It's like you just see us Timber, and in my head,
Speaker 1: I remember being like again, this a little perfect baby
Speaker 1: angel that like I am not You're not getting injured
Speaker 1: on my watch. It's not happening in your head. What
Speaker 1: was going on in that Timber?
Speaker 2: We're going down, going downtown baby, Okay, here we go.
Speaker 2: Can I say one please? Okay? Tripped on memory. So
Speaker 2: I feel like Jojo had really explored herself during our
Speaker 2: season and like slowly came out of the shell of
Speaker 2: winning two thousand layers and one billion different colors at
Speaker 2: all times, and you were like tapping into this sexy
Speaker 2: side of Jojo. And I remember, for me, this was
Speaker 2: like a really proud sister moment. You were going to
Speaker 2: some red carpet. What was the one? Oh it was
Speaker 2: was it the pink dress or the black dress? Which
Speaker 2: one did you wear it? I think it was the
Speaker 2: black dress. There was like two coming up. I remember, Yeah,
Speaker 2: I think it was a black dress. It was a
Speaker 2: black dress a Star's awards. So she was going to
Speaker 2: this big event and she like sent me this dress
Speaker 2: that she was maybe gonna wear. And I was literally
Speaker 2: crying when she sent me this picture because it was
Speaker 2: like see through. First of all, it was sheer, and
Speaker 2: she just like looked stunning like her movies were kind
Speaker 2: of out like not a ton but like not neck
Speaker 2: high turtleneck. Yeah, it was like off the shoulder moment,
Speaker 2: and I was like wor And so I just was
Speaker 2: like I got to get her a heel and she
Speaker 2: doesn't wear heels offten ever. But I was like, you know,
Speaker 2: we can't wear freaking tennis shoe with this dress. It's
Speaker 2: like twopic of a moment could have what about a
Speaker 2: lot compier of an eye? Know, So I got Jojo
Speaker 2: her first lubaitons and some of my first red botty.
Speaker 2: I remember I made you come into my trailer and
Speaker 2: watching you like try those on and even even attempting
Speaker 2: to put them on was hilarious, like made my life.
Speaker 2: I just felt like I was I'm not going to
Speaker 2: say your mom because your mom will be pissed, but
Speaker 2: I just like older sister, and it was just like
Speaker 2: sending you off to prom, and I just felt so
Speaker 2: emotional watching you.
Speaker 1: Like like I just felt like you were like not
Speaker 1: saying goodbye to your younger self, but you were like evolving, yeah,
Speaker 1: and stepping into this new like who is this freaking
Speaker 1: sexy woman?
Speaker 2: Yeah? It was.
Speaker 1: It was definitely like a upgrade. It was like she
Speaker 1: was changing. I feel like there was so many of
Speaker 1: those moments with you on Stars. I feel like when
Speaker 1: we went from sandy and frenchy to body language like
Speaker 1: that was a body suit with a deep beat down
Speaker 1: to here and remember I was like can we cut
Speaker 1: the mesh off? And you were like yes, we say
Speaker 1: no more. Oh my god, just you you really did
Speaker 1: open the adult door and kicked me through it. And
Speaker 1: it is something that I'll forever be grateful for. I have,
Speaker 1: I have a billion memories with Dancing with the Stars.
Speaker 1: I I think I just want to say thank you
Speaker 1: because it really was such a pivotal point in my
Speaker 1: life for so many reasons. I remember I was going
Speaker 1: through my first breakup too during the season, and you were,
Speaker 1: I mean, you were the person that was there for
Speaker 1: me the most because you had to be. You were
Speaker 1: the person I was with therapist. Yeah, no, she fully
Speaker 1: was my therapist. And I remember you were the first
Speaker 1: person that I told, like, hey, we broke up. You
Speaker 1: were the first person that I told, Like if do
Speaker 1: you remember when I used to tell you, I would
Speaker 1: be like, Jena, just tell me to do it, because
Speaker 1: if you tell me to do it.
Speaker 2: Then I will do it. That's a lot of pressure.
Speaker 2: And you used to be like jod I'm not telling
Speaker 2: you that I remember those car rides.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but like you really you really were my safe
Speaker 1: person in that time for that situation. But then I
Speaker 1: mean for everything else. You fixed body, Boudie, you fixed
Speaker 1: I mean, you got me into strength. Now I'm now
Speaker 1: I'm like a psych goat. Now I eat healthy, now
Speaker 1: I work out, and now i'm.
Speaker 2: That is my proudest thing. I think is just like
Speaker 2: seeing you, seeing you blossom in so many different ways.
Speaker 2: But I think also like loving being strong and not
Speaker 2: shying away from that, yeah, you know, and I think
Speaker 2: that's something for me. I feel like I'm a very
Speaker 2: feminine person, but I love like this masculine quality that
Speaker 2: I have of like I want to be able to
Speaker 2: do it the boys can do, yeah, like I want
Speaker 2: to be stronger than them, and I want to be
Speaker 2: able to do as any push ups as them, you know,
Speaker 2: And so like I love watching your fitness journey. Thank you.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: I mean you you started it. You sure as ex
Speaker 1: started it. I remember when we did Born this Way
Speaker 1: and we did that ending left right, I lifted you
Speaker 1: up and we were one shoulder. And now I could
Speaker 1: do that with like chilling. I do it later, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I like, let's break it go easy. But at the
Speaker 1: time I couldn't do it like it was.
Speaker 2: It was. It was a very big But before I
Speaker 2: Dance with the Stars, I couldn't do.
Speaker 1: A push up, like I could not do a single
Speaker 1: a shop, which is okay, but now, I mean, my
Speaker 1: strength journey has been insane. But then I remember seeing
Speaker 1: the boys do it and they were like, you gotta
Speaker 1: do it like this, and I was like, well, if
Speaker 1: Gleb can lift her, I can lift her.
Speaker 2: Glob should be able.
Speaker 1: To do a lot more than I can do. But
Speaker 1: like that mentality of like if they can do it,
Speaker 1: I can do it. I mean it got me anyways,
Speaker 1: now now you you just you you started this season
Speaker 1: off with Tyson. You got eliminate a way too early.
Speaker 1: I really thought y'all were going further. I really did,
Speaker 1: like I did too, not just blowing that up you like,
Speaker 1: I actually like really thought when I saw y'all, I
Speaker 1: gotta admit.
Speaker 2: I was kind of like, m I hope she doesn't
Speaker 2: have back up of a partner. Job. You wish this
Speaker 2: upon me? My early elimination, yeah, I.
Speaker 1: Was like because you you had baby and so you
Speaker 1: were pregnant, didn't do the last season, and I just remember.
Speaker 2: Being like, I just really want to like play my territory.
Speaker 1: I don't know, like I was like, for your sake,
Speaker 1: we get a good partner, but selfishly like, but then
Speaker 1: when you got Tyson, I was like, he's good.
Speaker 2: Like y'all.
Speaker 1: When I saw your dance when I came on Latin Night,
Speaker 1: I was like, dang, like they're good. They're gonna go far.
Speaker 1: And then you got eliminated. I think was it the
Speaker 1: next week? And I was like for my first thought
Speaker 1: was thank god I got to see her dance, I know.
Speaker 1: And my second thought was, like, I'm forever gonna be
Speaker 1: second place now, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: No, you're not. You're gonna have your season. You are
Speaker 2: gonna win.
Speaker 1: There's ever an All Stars. We will do nothing but win.
Speaker 2: Yes, we will do not I might avenge. Yeah, it's
Speaker 2: it's it's our it's our comeback arc.
Speaker 1: It's our comeback arc. H Jenna, your life now, give
Speaker 1: me your life now. Then I got to give you
Speaker 1: a little bit of a piece of my life now
Speaker 1: and then we'll we'll wrap this up.
Speaker 2: Where where are you now? What is your life now?
Speaker 2: Right now? I'm full mommy mode.
Speaker 1: Which Oh we got to talk about your Lend number.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, we gotta we gotta pause on your now,
Speaker 1: we gotta pause on you now. You just did the
Speaker 1: most incredible number. You are ready for your Emmy nomination
Speaker 1: and win, Like, don't even be you know that's getting
Speaker 1: not like that is.
Speaker 2: I mean, Jenna just did the most beautiful Lend tribute.
Speaker 2: I mean it was.
Speaker 1: It was the biggest thing I think from Dancing with
Speaker 1: the Stars this season, and it's because of you, Like
Speaker 1: you did that.
Speaker 2: Thank you I think, you know, it goes back to everything.
Speaker 2: I'm a firm believer and everything happens for a reason
Speaker 2: and full transparency. I was like really devastated that this
Speaker 2: was my season that I came back from because I
Speaker 2: love the show, I love creating, and so I think
Speaker 2: missing out on last season, I was so happy to
Speaker 2: be pregnant and to take a season off, but I
Speaker 2: was so excited to come back this season. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: so when it ended early, I kind of just felt
Speaker 2: like and what now? Like what do I do? Now?
Speaker 2: You know, I've just been I carved out these three
Speaker 2: months for this, and now like what do I do? Yeah?
Speaker 2: And I just didn't feel very fulfilled, you know, which
Speaker 2: was which sucked because I was like wonging for that
Speaker 2: feeling again. And I think.
Speaker 1: Too, you had a really like it. You should have
Speaker 1: you there was deaf only you. Y'all should still be
Speaker 1: there and I think you knew that too. Yeah, And
Speaker 1: so getting eliminated had to have been a big shock.
Speaker 1: Better Yeah, bitter sweet because again I got to spend
Speaker 1: time with my son. But I think I'm still in
Speaker 1: my mind, I'm still this artist, creator, choreographer, and I
Speaker 1: have so much more to give so anyway, cut to
Speaker 1: everything happens for a reason. We were asked Val and
Speaker 1: I were asked to quot off this Len tribute number.
Speaker 1: Len Goodman passed away this past year and they wanted
Speaker 1: to honor him, and there had been a lot of
Speaker 1: pressure leading up to this piece because they were like,
Speaker 1: you know, this is a very important moment for us,
Speaker 1: we really want to do it justice. This is I mean,
Speaker 1: Len was on the show for since the beginning, and
Speaker 1: there's so much legacy that we felt a lot of
Speaker 1: pressure to do a very good job. And so I
Speaker 1: know that if I still would have been on the season,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if I could have put in as
Speaker 1: much effort to just solely be focused on this number.
Speaker 1: Ye anyway, And and Val is still in the season,
Speaker 1: you know, and he and Sochi are going to win,
Speaker 1: I think so and I wanted him to still be.
Speaker 2: Focused on that. They're so cute, so good. Anyway, So yeah,
Speaker 2: we we did this Lene number and it turned out
Speaker 2: more than I ever could have expected. And I haven't
Speaker 2: ever had the chance to do a group number on
Speaker 2: the show and have the capabilities of using all of
Speaker 2: these incredible dances. Was unreal At one time, So thank you.
Speaker 2: It was unreal.
Speaker 1: I'm very proud of it, as you should be. Emmy's
Speaker 1: when the nominations come out, we'll see, we'll see. It's
Speaker 1: been the best thing on this season for sure.
Speaker 2: For sure. Anyways, your life now, Mommy and mode. But
Speaker 2: I'm still you know, I feel more ready than ever
Speaker 2: to like tackle my career and do those things that
Speaker 2: I haven't done that have scared me that now is
Speaker 2: the time to do it. So doing that, I'm still
Speaker 2: obviously a part of the season. And then yeah, being
Speaker 2: trying to be a good wife. You know, supportive wife
Speaker 2: is my husband's Kushna on the season. So yeah, that's
Speaker 2: my best life I'm going to be. I want to
Speaker 2: be John in my next life.
Speaker 1: Stop, Okay, I gotta I've actually been meaning to read
Speaker 1: you this, and I I didn't. I wasn't planning on
Speaker 1: reading you this, and now I was. I've planned on
Speaker 1: reading you this right when I got home from Special Forces,
Speaker 1: but then I don't know if I've told you, have
Speaker 1: I told you about this?
Speaker 2: I'm not ready for this. I'm not.
Speaker 1: I'm not either, and I will cry any any time
Speaker 1: I take this is why I had to put it
Speaker 1: upside down because anytime I look at this death note,
Speaker 1: I literally start sobbing. Anyways, but before before we wrap
Speaker 1: this up, I was like, you know what this this
Speaker 1: feels like. It's like I'm I'm finally ready to read
Speaker 1: it too. I feel like we've had a deep conversation.
Speaker 1: Now today we've gone through emerl Lane and I don't know,
Speaker 1: it's just really anyways, So I just for anyone who's listening,
Speaker 1: I just did Special Forces World's Touffest Test, which is
Speaker 1: a TV show on Fox, but I mean it is
Speaker 1: it is are beyond a TV show.
Speaker 2: People ask me all the time, what was harder Dancing
Speaker 2: with the Stars? Are special Forces? Actually?
Speaker 1: And I joke around and I'm like, actually, probably Dancing
Speaker 1: with the Stars because Dan the Stars is so intense
Speaker 1: and so stressful, and yeah, seventy five days compared to
Speaker 1: eight days. But there's something about special Forces. You are
Speaker 1: away from everybody, you are faced with death, you every
Speaker 1: single day. You are pushed to your physical limits for sure,
Speaker 1: and pushed beyond your mental limits. I mean, I I
Speaker 1: was mentally gone.
Speaker 2: Anyways.
Speaker 1: So it's it's day I think six six or seven,
Speaker 1: and we had to write death notes and this death
Speaker 1: note was they gave us pieces of paper and they said,
Speaker 1: if something happens to you, this is what goes home.
Speaker 2: So what do you want home to to read? What
Speaker 2: do you want home to know?
Speaker 1: What do you want them to know about your your finances,
Speaker 1: your people, your house? Like you gotta, you gotta put
Speaker 1: everything in this death note.
Speaker 2: And so I have my death note.
Speaker 1: And when I when I was done with selection, I
Speaker 1: was like, you know what, I'm not leaving unless I
Speaker 1: get to take this death note with me.
Speaker 2: I'm not. I can't.
Speaker 1: I can't leave the premises. And so I convinced them
Speaker 1: to give me my death note and I wrote to
Speaker 1: a few very very very close people in my life.
Speaker 1: I need to still read it to a few people.
Speaker 1: But I told myself, I was like, I will read
Speaker 1: this to every single person that I wrote to, because
Speaker 1: they need to know this before I actually go.
Speaker 2: Fair warning.
Speaker 1: Every time I read this, I saw because it puts
Speaker 1: me right back.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna cry already.
Speaker 1: It puts me right back to where I was when
Speaker 1: I wrote this, which was at the mentally lowest point
Speaker 1: I've ever been at. I mean, you're thinking about what
Speaker 1: happens if you don't return home and you already are
Speaker 1: missing your people so much. And yeah, anyways, so what
Speaker 1: I'll do is I'm gonna I'll read you. I'll read
Speaker 1: you the first part and then I have a section
Speaker 1: that's just for you. Yeah, I'm okay, here we go.
Speaker 1: Every time, there isn't an easy way to start this,
Speaker 1: but I'll start by saying, I hope you never have
Speaker 1: to end up reading this, and instead I'll just get
Speaker 1: to tell you all this in person. I want to
Speaker 1: start off with the message to my mom. Then I
Speaker 1: go into a whole thing about my mom. Yeah, YadA,
Speaker 1: this is this is this is your section, Jenna. You
Speaker 1: changed me and my life.
Speaker 2: Already going down.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, so what happened was you're part of the death. No,
Speaker 1: you should you should know this. I was I was writing,
Speaker 1: and I went through all my people that I was
Speaker 1: like talking to like at the time, and you are
Speaker 1: obviously one of the closest people to me, but you're
Speaker 1: not someone that I speak to every single day, And
Speaker 1: so I was like going through like, oh, I talked
Speaker 1: to every single day.
Speaker 2: I was talking to Samana every single day. I was
Speaker 2: start going to kiss every single day.
Speaker 1: At the time, I was talking to Raven, Miranda, my
Speaker 1: girl group, my mom, dad, brother, like that was like
Speaker 1: the front.
Speaker 2: And then and Rachel and now and clean.
Speaker 1: And then I got to Ezra, who I was fighting
Speaker 1: with at the time, and I was like, I can't
Speaker 1: not write to him, So I wrote to him. And
Speaker 1: then I literally was like, who means the most in
Speaker 1: the world to me? And I was like Jenna. I
Speaker 1: was like, I gotta write to Jenna, so your your
Speaker 1: section has actually last in this and so I was,
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm I'm deep at this point. Jesus, Jenna,
Speaker 1: you changed me and my life more than I've already
Speaker 1: told you. No one knew about my deep, dark insecurities,
Speaker 1: but you figure them out and helped me break down
Speaker 1: every wall that needed to be broken down. I'll never
Speaker 1: be able to express to you how much you mean
Speaker 1: to me. Thank you for everything. I love you very much, Joelle.
Speaker 2: You're also the only person that got signed Joell. Jesus,
Speaker 2: I hate this step note.
Speaker 1: It gives me every single time and I like, I've
Speaker 1: read it literally probably fifty times a step note, but
Speaker 1: it so I don't know something about it.
Speaker 2: That's uh. I love you you clearly the world to me.
Speaker 1: I don't you know I don't cry any That thing
Speaker 1: was like instant lot of works.
Speaker 2: If I need tears, that's that's my winner tier. I
Speaker 2: should have just not read that. To me, I'm first
Speaker 2: of all, that's very beautiful and I can't even imagine
Speaker 2: having to write it was so like putting that into words.
Speaker 2: But I knew like you were really there writing it.
Speaker 1: Like it wasn't like, oh, I'm gonna go write this
Speaker 1: note like just like to tell my people how I feel.
Speaker 2: It was like it was so real, it was crazy.
Speaker 2: I'm honored that when you're in that deepest, darkest right now,
Speaker 2: I made the death note. But wow, that's so beautiful
Speaker 2: and I'm really glad you framed that and have that
Speaker 2: forever one of my humans. It's a big reminder for me.
Speaker 2: It really.
Speaker 1: As as psycho as this sounds, it was one of
Speaker 1: the best things I've ever done, was write a death note.
Speaker 1: Like it just puts into perspective what you care about,
Speaker 1: what you're grateful for. I think at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, also like who matters, who really matters and
Speaker 1: what matters. Yeah, absolutely, don't write a death and nope,
Speaker 1: but do write a death It really does help anyways,
Speaker 1: I feel like that was like the highest of high
Speaker 1: and lowest of low that we could have possibly ended
Speaker 1: this podcast on.
Speaker 2: But that's now. But that but that is.
Speaker 1: Now, and that is that is where I am now,
Speaker 1: and that is where you are in my life now
Speaker 1: as a person.
Speaker 2: I'm so proud of you. I'm so proud of you.
Speaker 2: Like you know, in these past couple of years, I
Speaker 2: feel like you've gone through such an evolution. Thank you,
Speaker 2: and it's you started it. Well, it's got to be
Speaker 2: starting flicting at times, but I'm really proud of you.
Speaker 2: You're thank you. You know, you're so talented that goes beyond.
Speaker 2: But like as a human, you are truly at the
Speaker 2: end of the day, Like if I'm thinking of who
Speaker 2: will be there no matter what, if I needed somebody
Speaker 2: right now, you're at the top of my list. So
Speaker 2: so proud of you. So grateful we met each other.
Speaker 2: We got to do some incredible moments and memories together.
Speaker 2: But even better than that, like we have each other
Speaker 2: in each other's life for the rest of our lives.
Speaker 2: We're prepared, we're excited, and we have each other. Right.
Speaker 1: Jenna and I used to have these performance vituals that
Speaker 1: we would do before every every single performance. We would
Speaker 1: go to her prayer corner and we would she would
Speaker 1: she would she would say friend. I would stand there
Speaker 1: not like hi, thanks big man, and then we would
Speaker 1: say we're prepared, we're excited, and we have each other.
Speaker 1: And then I would run the dance fifty and then
Speaker 1: gentlemen tell me to calm down and they'd be like okay,
Speaker 1: and then.
Speaker 2: We pert forward. It was great every single week.
Speaker 1: I was just at CBS for some reason with my
Speaker 1: mom and I was like, what's your prayer corner? And
Speaker 1: I showed it with you and I used to pray.
Speaker 1: We were like walking around and I was like, what
Speaker 1: is see what I used to be. She heard about
Speaker 1: it all the time, but she never knew where it was. Anyways, Jenna,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for everything. Thank you for everything
Speaker 1: you just said. I I will always be for you,
Speaker 1: and thank you so much for joining Joe's and now
Speaker 1: anything else you want to get out.
Speaker 2: I feel like that's a rap.
Speaker 1: That's a freaking wrap. Everybody following Jinna everywhere watch Dancing
Speaker 1: with the Stars. When Jenna is on next season, the
Speaker 1: Dancing with the Stars text whoever her star is to two, one, five,
Speaker 1: two three ten times every single Monday or Tuesday night,
Speaker 1: whatever night they decided to air it.
Speaker 2: I love y'all.
Speaker 1: I remember on Dancing Stars like the first week you
Speaker 1: really gets two two three, I was like, how do you.
Speaker 2: Memorize that already? It's been the same number for forever. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Anyways, I love y'all. Thank you for listening. I hope
Speaker 1: you enjoyed. Give us a good rating, tell your friends.
Speaker 2: And I'll talk to you next time. Peace. Thank you
Speaker 2: so much for listening. Everybody.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow us on Instagram and TikTok at
Speaker 1: Jojosua Now podcast. Be sure to write us a review,
Speaker 1: and maybe, if you're feeling to leave us five stars,
Speaker 1: I'll see you next week.