Olivia Jade Giannulli, the daughter of former “Full House” and “Fuller House” star Lori Loughlin, will reportedly be joining the cast of “Dancing With The Stars” for the ABC reality show’s upcoming 30th season.
Giannulli To Appear On ‘Dancing With The Stars’
https://twitter.com/19_comunidad/status/1433211627491500035
While the full cast has yet to be revealed, a source confirmed to Entertainment Tonight that Olivia Jade will be on the show.
The insider added that “The Bachelor’s” Matt James and television personality Amanda Kloots, who lost her Broadway star husband Nick Cordero to COVID-19 last year, will also be on the cast.
A source told E! News that Giannulli joining the cast is her way of “taking her life into her own hands, learning from past mistakes and challenging herself in new areas.”
Related: Lori Loughlin Wants ‘Her Life Back’ After Prison Release – Desperate To Make Hollywood Comeback
Other Celebrities On This Season – Plus The Pros
Giannulli, James, and Kloots will join the already confirmed celebrities JoJo Siwa and Sunisa “Suni” Lee in the ballroom for the upcoming season.
Meanwhile, the lineup of professional dancers for the upcoming season of “Dancing With The Stars” has been confirmed:
Alan Bersten, Artem Chigvintsev, Brandon Armstrong, Britt Stewart, Cheryl Burke, Daniella Karagach, Emma Slater, Gleb Savchenko, Jenna Johnson, Lindsay Arnold, Pasha Pashkov, Sasha Farber, Sharna Burgess, Whitney Carson, and Valentin Chmerkovskiy.
Giannulli became a household name after her parents, Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, were arrested for allegedly paying $500,000 in bribe money to have her and her older sister Isabella admitted to the University of Southern California as members of the crew team, despite the fact that neither girl had ever rowed before.
Loughlin ultimately served two months in prison for the crime, while her husband served five months.
Related: What Life’s Like For Lori Loughlin Since Being Released From Prison
Giannulli Addresses Scandal
Prior to this scandal, Giannulli had been a popular influencer with over one million followers on Instagram. Though she stayed silent about her parents’ case for quite some time, she finally broke her silence about the situation earlier this year.
“I think that what hasn’t been super public is that there is no justifying or excusing what happened,” she said at the time. “Because what happened was wrong and I think every single person in my family can be like, ‘That was messed up, that was a big mistake.'”
“But I think what is so important to me is to learn from the mistake, not to now be shamed and punished and never given a second chance, because I am 21,” Giannulli continued. “I feel like I deserve a second chance to redeem myself, to show I have grown.”
Twitter Users Fire Back At ‘DWTS’ For Casting Giannulli
Twitter users have already started firing back against Giannulli being cast on “Dancing With The Stars.”
Here comes the rehabilitation tour. Disgraced “influencer” Olivia Jade, who lost all her endorsements when she cheated her way into college with the help of her parents, Aunt Becky and the designer guy, joins cast of “Dancing With the Stars”. Note: she still can’t row. 🚣🏻♀️ pic.twitter.com/L4ibJUHXI3
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) September 1, 2021
this is sean spicer level cringe to say the least. why do they keep doing this lol ?! stop rewarding TERRIBLE behavior from people like them, who without opportunities like this actually could fade into oblivion😂 https://t.co/negWgaPWc8
— grace (@gracieturnn) September 2, 2021
@DancingABC why are you promoting Olivia Jade when her family clearly broke the law and had to be imprisoned. Shows how privileged children can still get what they want. Shame on you @DancingABC. Her parents tried to cheat the system and now their daughter is on your show.
— JoAnn Zellman (@ZellmanJoann) September 2, 2021
It remains to be seen whether appearing on “Dancing With The Stars” will actually help rehabilitate Lori Loughlin’s daughter’s image, or if it will just make things even worse for her.