When one door closes, another opens, as the old saying so famously goes.
These words were never more true than on Tuesday night’s Dance Moms Season 5 Episode 3, when Maddie Ziegler left for L.A. to work with Sia.
As a result, the ALDC squad was down another member, so Abby Lee Miller brought in her Season 2 “Ultimate Dance Competition” standout, JoJo Siwa, 11.
Much to the dismay of the cast, JoJo’s mom, Jessalynn, also appeared.
If you watch Dance Moms online for plenty more, you know the competition and bitterness between the moms far eclipses that between the kids themselves.
Boy was that ever the case once JoJo filled in for Maddie this week.
“She has that charisma. She has that energy. She wants it. She is dynamite onstage. She is going to fire this group up a little bit,” Abby said of JoJo.
Dance Moms Season 5 Episode 3, entitled “JoJo With A Bow Bow,” theretofore saw Jessalynn rub the ALDC moms the wrong way every step of the way.
When Abby said Maddie’s sister Mackenzie Ziegler, 10, would compete against JoJo, you could almost feel the hairs on mom Melissa’s neck stand up.
Dance mom Jill Vertes also weighed in with this gem of a quote:
“Jess and JoJo come in with a couple of big bows on your kids head, a bottle of peroxide, a couple of rhinestones and you think you know what’s going on."
"I don’t know who Jess thinks she is, but she doesn’t fit in."
Oooooh. Jessalynn, for her part, was unfazed by it all.
"I think the other moms are scared to death of JoJo and what JoJo can bring to this team,” she said. “I think their girls are going to have to step it up.”
Could JoJo actually live up to her billing and fill Maddie’s shoes? That was another story, as she struggled a bit out of the gate, and Abby Lee noticed.
Miller brought in Season 4 star Sarah Hunt, 9, to perform the number in her place, and choreographed a new contemporary number for JoJo instead.
Jessalynn then got into it with Sarah’s mom, Christy.
“This is my studio. You’re going to be gone in 24 hours. I have nothing to worry about,” Christy told Jessalynn as they argued which kid was the best fit.
“Does your kid always look at the floor and bite her lip while she dances? She looks scared to me,” Jessalynn taunted her rival in a hilariously real exchange.
When Christy responded by saying she has “a lot of issues” with Abby’s studio, Jessalynn responded with: “My biggest issue at this studio is your stupidity.”
Abby didn’t help quell the tension by showing up late to the competition, having been died up by legal matters (likely thanks to Kelly Hyland) in New York.
When the results were reveled, her late arrival didn’t stop Sarah from bringing home a first-place win in the mini division for her lyrical routine “One Heart.”
Mackenzie’s “Boom Boom” routine placed first in the junior division, while JoJo took third overall for her solo and the group number placed (gasp) second.
Heads will roll next week over that result. Bank on it.