Olivia Jade is apparently hoping to waltz back into the public’s good graces after the infamous college admissions scandal of 2019.
As you most likely know by now, her parents Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli were accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to enroll the 21-year-old social media personality and Isabella Giannulli into the University of Southern California as members of the rowing team. The couple eventually pleaded guilty to the crimes, and both served time in prison. Since then, Olivia has been on somewhat of an apology and redemption tour. She even appeared on Red Table Talk last year, where she apologized “for contributing to the social inequality” and crowned herself as the “poster child of white privilege.” She said at the time:
“There is no justifying or excusing what happened 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’s so important to me is like to learn from the mistake. Not to now be shamed and punished and never given a second chance. I’m 21, I feel like I deserve a second chance to redeem myself, to show I’ve grown.”
Still, things haven’t really been smooth-sailing for the YouTube star! Olivia opened up about her experience with “being publicly shamed” following the major controversy, saying:
“We were talking about being publicly shamed and I was like, ‘Well, my situation doesn’t even compare, I’m not even going to start to compare it to yours.’ And she looked at me and said, ‘Olivia, it doesn’t matter if I’m drowning in 60 ft. of water and you’re drowning in 30, we’re both still drowning.’”
Now, TMZ has reported that the influencer is joining the upcoming season of Dancing With The Stars.
Related: Olivia Jade Reacts To Gossip Girl‘s Dig About Her Mom Lori Loughlin Going To Jail!
While the competition series has yet to confirm the news, the outlet confirmed that the woman in a visor being escorted into the rehearsal studio on Tuesday was Olivia. Take a look at the photo HERE.
TMZ also added that her professional dance partner is Val Chmerkovskiy. In case you’re unfamiliar as to who he is, ch-ch-check out a snapshot of the hunk (below):
Olivia will join JoJo Siwa, Suni Lee, and Kenya Moore in the ballroom. The remaining DWTS cast will be revealed on Wednesday, September 8, so we may have to wait and see if the former university student is officially a part of the dancing crew. It certainly would be an interesting decision for the ABC series and Olivia, though!
We honestly don’t know how much it will actually repair her image following the scandal, but it appears she has reached the point where she will try anything. But what do you think about this casting choice, Perezcious readers? Do you think Olivia has what it takes to win the Mirror Ball trophy? Sound OFF with your thoughts in the comments (below)!
[Image via Olivia Jade/Instagram, Apega/WENN]