JoJo Siwa reveals dyslexia diagnosis—and why the famous bow had to go

Nickelodeon alum JoJo Siwa revealed to fans on her new podcast that she deals with the learning difference dyslexia. 

According to the Mayo Clinic, people with dyslexia have individual differences in the area of the brain that processes language and difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words.

It’s estimated that 20% of people struggle with dyslexia. The “Special Forces” star, 20, launched her iHeart Radio pod “JoJo Siwa NOW” just this week and opened up about her diagnosis. 

“Letters that are similar, I get a little confused,” she shares. “It’s not bad. I can read, I can write, so it’s nothing that’s hard for me to deal with.”

She went on to say, “Because my brain doesn’t register which way that ‘d’ or ‘b’ is supposed to go, they just look the same,” she added.

The “Boomerang” singer has never been shy about sharing details of her life, revealing to People in June that she is part of the LBGQT+ community and identifies as pansexual. 

Siwa boasts tens of millions of followers on social media and shares that it has become a source of support and comfort for her. “Just getting social media for me, it actually gave me a safe space when I came out,” she told E! News. “I knew that even if everyone around me didn’t support me, there was gonna be people online that did.” 

She added, “I always told myself it was gonna be easier to come out online than it was in person. And I do believe that’s very true.”

The podcast is just another extension of that for the former “Dance Moms” star. Podcast listeners are also promised plenty of “Dance Moms” and “Dancing with the Stars” drama, rough breakups, falling out with friends and what a day in her life is really like. 

Siwa also dishes on why she decided to ditch her famous bow—which she sold 40 million of in 2018 alone. 

“I am now 20 years old,” she expressed on JoJo Siwa NOW, noting that even though she has nothing against it, she hasn’t worn her signature side pony with the bow in her hair for over two years. At the time, it just “felt right,” recalls the star. You can catch Siwa on the current season of Fox’s military-based reality show “Special Forces”.