Tyra Banksis glad to seeOlivia Jade Giannullias part of the celebrity cast on the upcoming season ofDancing with the Stars.
“She’s a human being and people have to remember that first, that she’s a human being with emotions and so much,” Banks continues. “So for her to say, ‘I’m going to come on here, I’m going to show the world my vulnerability. I’m going to be able to tell my story like I have never told it before,’ is very brave, but also very smart.”
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Last week, Olivia wasannouncedas one of the celebrity contenders on the 30th season the hit ABC dance competition. At the time, she told reporters at a press event that she wastaking the gig as an opportunity to “grow” as a person.
“I hope people just really genuinely know how excited and grateful I am,” Olivia said. “I think about a few weeks ago, and knowing that this was very far-fetched and not really in the cards. I’m super thankful for a second chance.”
Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty; Maarten de Boer/ABC via Getty
“I’m ready to put myself back out there and try new things,” she added. “I’m really excited to challenge myself and put myself out of my comfort zone, which I don’t do often.”
“I want to keep evolving as a person, and I think sometimes it takes kind of difficult situations and mistakes and stuff that we’re really not proud of to do that,” she continues. “Obviously I wish I could go back in time and kind of do a lot of stuff, but I think it’s kind of important to me now to just keep learning and see where the world takes me.”
Lori Loughlin and Olivia Jade Giannulli.Steve Granitz/WireImage
Loughlin, 57, and Giannulli, 58, were both sentenced to prison last year afterpleading guiltyto the charges against them related to the scandal.
According to the criminal complaint against them, the couple paid $500,000 to Rick Singer and Key Worldwide Foundation to falsely designate their daughters, Olivia and her sisterIsabella Rose Giannulli, as recruits to the University of Southern California crew team, even though neither ever participated in the sport.
On Aug. 21, 2020, a judgeapproved the couple’s plea deal, sentencing Loughlin to two months in jail, a $150,000 fine, and 150 hours of community service. Giannulli received five months in jail, a $250,000 fine, and 250 hours of community service.
Loughlin started her prison sentence in October 2020 and served nearly two months before she wasreleased from the federal correctional facilityin December. Giannulli, meanwhile, was booked into federal prison on Nov. 19 and wasreleased from home confinementin April of this year, marking the end of his five-month sentence.
RELATED VIDEO: Olivia Jade Giannulli Says She’s ‘Not Proud’ of Her Past: ‘I Wish I Could Go Back in Time’
Oliviabroke her silence on the scandalfor the first time in December, sharing on an episode of Facebook Watch’sRed Table Talk, “I’m not trying to victimize myself. I don’t want pity — I don’t deserve pity. We messed up. I just want a second chance to be like, ‘I recognize I messed up.’ "
“I never got to say, ‘I’m really sorry that this happened,’ or ‘I really own that this was a big mess-up on everybody’s part,’ but I think everybody feels that way in my family right now,” she said at the time.
This month, news of her casting onDWTScasting sparked backlash among some on social media given her family’s past, with one Twitter user decrying the decision as the “textbook definition of white privilege.”
source: people.com
