Jojo Siwa Compares ‘Special Forces’ Environment To ‘Dance Moms’: “Either Going To Be Really Good Or Bring Up Some Deep Dark Trauma”

Jojo Siwa has a rough start on the premiere of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test Season 2. After getting reprimanded for not being serious enough, the 20-year-old YouTuber, who is the youngest contestant on the survival show, compares the military-like environment to that of Dance Moms, her former TLC reality show.

Special Forces follows a group of celebrities as they train in the wintery conditions of the New Zealand mountains under ex-special force operatives. The only way out is for each contestant to voluntarily withdraw themselves from the show until one is left standing.

For Siwa, who got her start on Dance Moms when she was only nine years old, joining Special Forces is an opportunity for her to “not be babied.” However, she soon learns that her experience won’t be all rainbows and sparkles.

“Because of my career and what I do, I’ve never been able to do something dangerous,” Siwa says in her confessional. “But I’m absolutely a risk-taker. I mean, I’m a 20-year-old who’s about to live on the edge.”

She continues, “Me coming to this environment, where I’m gonna be yelled at and where I’m gonna be told what to do and not mess it up, is taking me right back to where I was at 11 on Dance Moms. It’s either going to be really good or bring up some deep, dark trauma.”

In the first test, the celebrities are forced to balance themselves as they walk across two thin metal poles on a Trainasium suspended more than 300 feet above a freezing river. Like many of her fellow competitors, Siwa is unable to make it across without falling — and her lighthearted attitude about the activity gets her brought in for questioning later on.

“I think I’ve been a kid for a long time. I think this is the furthest thing from a kid thing that you can do,” she explains to the staff about why she decided to join the show. “My No. 1 in life is to just try to make other people laugh, smile, be happy. I come from the dance world. I did my first TV show when I was nine. After that, there was a bigger show called Dance Moms.“

The dancer then gets emotional thinking about her close relationship with her mother, whom she has never been away from — until this very moment. After promising that she can put her bubbly personality aside and bring out a “tough” and “mature” version of herself, Siwa heads back into the barracks and has herself a good cry.

“Growing up the way that I did, I’ve learned how to put on a happy face no matter what,” she says. “If I’m upset, I will set a timer and allow myself to be super sad but it’s tough. It’s not easy.”

But hey! If she can handle Abby Lee Miller, she can handle anyone!

New episodes of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test air Monday nights at 9/8c on FOX.