NBA star, Iman Shumpert and YouTube personality, JoJo Siwa are finalists on Dancing With The Stars
After more than two months of live shows and intense competition, the finalists in this years’ Dancing With the Stars (DWTS) have been announced. In the running for the coveted mirrorball trophy according to several international sources are NBA star, Iman Shumpert and popular YouTube personality, JoJo Siwa.
Shumpert and his partner, Daniella Karagach along with Siwa and her partner, Jenna Johnson were announced among the finalists on Monday.
The NBA star who is married to dancer/choreographer, Teyana Taylor will be making history as the first NBA star to place this far in the competition.
Describing his journey on the show as “a lot of fun”, Shumpert says he enjoyed the experience and looked forward to the challenge every week.
“I kinda invite pressure. It makes for a better moment, and apparently we are the ‘moment makers’ – Tyra [Banks] gave us that name,” he said. “I think we just sort of lean on doing choreo that is challenging. I came on this show to take on a challenge, and this is something that I’ve never done, and it’s been a lot of fun. The whole journey through it, so we are just gonna keep rolling with that.”
Shumpert said he hopes his success on the show will inspire other NBA stars to say yes to “DWTS” in the future. His partner, Karagach joked that she has already started to scout for potential participants for next season leaving Shumpert to name drop a few prospective candidates.
“I told you, you gotta get Kyrie [Irving],” he told her. “Kyrie and Carmelo [Anthony], they’ve got good foot work. Guys with good foot work.”
Siwa, who is also making history this season as the first celebrity to be paired with a pro partner of the same sex, had one word to describe her placement in the finals: “Unbelievable.”
“I mean, I remember week one, just wanting this moment, and now all I want to do is go back in time,” she explained. “Because as great as this moment is, it means there’s six days left and I am devastated about that. These six days I am going to cherish every single second, every single moment. I’m just so grateful.”
