JoJo Siwa Says Dance Moms Was 'Detrimental' to Her Career

During Tuesday's episode of her JoJo Siwa Now podcast, the 20-year-old -- who got her start on the Lifetime series, and was coached by Abby Lee Miller -- shared that she's "grateful" for her time on the show, but said she believes Dance Moms was ultimately "detrimental" to her career.

"Today, we are kind of going back to, not necessarily how it started for me and how I became a public human being, but something that I think really was detrimental to my career and was massive for me, which was Dance Moms," Siwa shared, before noting that the Dance Moms reunion was a "mixed bag of bones" for her.

"Dance Moms, as a whole, is not a mixed bag of bones for me. It is the biggest blessing of my entire life," she continued. "It is one of the things that I'm most grateful for. Of course, there were hard days."

Siwa added that while there was a "lot of tears, a lot of blood, a lot of sweat," during her time on the show, she said it's a "massive part of my career that I will always and forever be so freaking grateful for."

The Dancing with the Stars alum -- along with her mom Jessalynn Siwa -- first appeared on Dance Moms in Season 5 after previously starring in Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition. However, the mother-daughter pair exited the show toward the end of Season 6 after JoJo signed a contract with Nickelodeon.

She said it was a "tough" decision because she "really enjoyed being a part of it."

"I loved it. I loved my friends. I didn't think my friends would still be friends with me if I wasn't on the show. I didn't know how the world was gonna react. It was very tough because it was so real. It was all that I knew."

Looking back, she said it was "the right choice" to leave the show at the time, adding, "I'm very grateful that I ended Dance Moms the way that I did."

"I could have been there longer, I should have been there longer, I wanted to be there longer," she added. "I think leaving Dance Moms while I still loved it was the best decision."