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Tyra Banks is defending Dancing With The Stars’ decision to cast Olivia Jade as a contestant on the upcoming season.
The veteran supermodel — who will host the series for a second season in a row — went to bat for the 21-year-old YouTuber after many expressed shock she was cast for the competition amid her family’s college admissions scandal.
Calling the daughter of Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli ‘brave,’ Tyra said that the show was a way for Olivia to ‘tell her story’ and said she believed that she had ‘nothing to do with’ the scandal that landed her parents in prison.
Defending the show: Tyra Banks defended DWTS decision to cast Olivia Jade in the upcoming season as she said that the 21-year-old YouTuber deserved to ‘tell her story’ on the show amid her parents’ college admissions scandal
Scandal: The daughter of Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli found herself at the heart of the ‘Varsity Blues’ college admissions scandal in 2019, after her parents were found guilty of paying $500K in bribes to get her admitted to USC as part of the rowing team
Banks was prompted by ET’s Lauren Zima, to discuss the backlash surrounding Olivia’s casting, at which point she divulged her thoughts on the matter and spoke to her character.
‘I think Olivia is so brave. I think people don’t know her, they know what happened to her,’ Banks said, as she touched on her association with the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal two years ago.
‘She has said that she did not know about what was going on and it’s really sad, and it’s very hurtful when something publicly happens but you had nothing to do with it. So I trust that she says she didn’t know.’
Tyra maintained that the show was a way for Olivia to re-write her own narrative. ‘She is having to deal with that and I think she’s coming to Dancing With the Stars to be able to tell her story and show her vulnerability.’
Pictured: Olivia has been pictured attending practice over the last few weeks and her casting was officially confirmed on September 8
Famously, Olivia’s parents Lori and Mossimo were found guilty of paying $500K in bribes to get she and sister Isabella, 22, admitted to USC as part of the rowing team (despite having no experience). It was called the largest admissions scandal ever prosecuted.
Loughlin was sentenced in August 2020 and ordered to pay an $150,000 fine as well as 150 hours of community service and Mossimo was slammed with a $250,000 fine and 250 hours of service.
Both were also sentenced to prison, and the Full House star served out her two month sentence at a correctional facility near Dublin, California and was released on December 28, 2020.
Mossimo on the other hand served nearly five months at a federal prison in Lompoc, California but completed the last of his sentence under home confinement. He was released from from federal custody on April 17, 2021.
Doing time: The pair were both sentenced to prison with the Full House star serving two months and the fashion designer serving five months; pictured August 2019
In the conversation, Tyra continued to react to criticism that Olivia should also not be on the show because she’s not a ‘star,’ and also said she had nothing to do with the casting process despite being an executive producer as well.
Though the former ANTM host acknowledged that she wasn’t a ‘celebrity’ in the traditional sense per say, she maintained ‘if people are talking about you, you’re famous.’
When news of the influencer’s official casting was revealed on September 8, Olivia also spoke to ET about using the experience as a ‘second chance’ and opportunity ‘to grow.’
‘I just want to make it very clear that it is important to learn from the past and I am a big believer in second chances. I am still young and I am still trying to figure it out and I hope that I just continue to grow every day.
Fresh start:’ I think because this process is so challenging, you learn so much about yourself, which I am excited for,’ she told ET of getting outside her comfort zone; pictured February 2018
‘And I think because this process is so challenging, you learn so much about yourself, which I am excited for. [I’m] putting myself outside of my comfort zone,’ she continued.
Ahead of the announcement Olivia had been spotted attending practice shielded underneath a reflective visor.
The full cast of male stars includes: Matt James, Brian Austin Green, Cody Rigsby, Iman Shumpert, The Miz, Jimmie Allen and Martin Kove.
The full cast of female stars includes: Jojo Siwa, Kenya Moore, Amanda Kloots, Suni Lee, Melanie C, Christine Chiu, and Melora Hardin.
The show is set to air on September 20 with a panel that includes show vets: Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, Len Goodman, and former pro Derek Hough.
The host: Tyra will serve as the show’s host for the second season in a row and the show is set to return with a whole new group of stars on September 20
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