JoJo Siwa reveals a bald spot on the side of her head was caused by a stress rash when she was on 'Dance Moms,' not her signature ponytails

• JoJo Siwa said that a bald patch on her head was the result of her time on "Dance Moms."
• Siwa starred on the show prior to signing a contract with Nickelodeon and becoming a pop star.

JoJo Siwa said that a bald patch on her head was caused by her time on "Dance Moms" as a child — not the high ponytails that she wore for years.

Siwa, 19, appeared on the Lifetime reality series during her preteen years, joining the Abby Lee Dance Company during its fifth season. She later left the company during the second half of the show's sixth season, saying in a 2017 YouTube video that it was due to a new opportunity with Nickelodeon.

In a TikTok video, she said that her time on the show left her with a bald patch on her head.

"When someone notices my bald spot and wonders what it's from...," Siwa said in an on-screen caption of a video flipping her now-short hair over her head, before cutting to photos of herself on the series.

Siwa recently cut her hair, posting a TikTok video in April showing her shaking out a new, much shorter style. Previously, she had been known for wearing her blonde hair in a tight, slicked back ponytail, typically accompanied by one of her trademark bows. As Vulture previously reported, people speculated online that Siwa's ponytails had led to hair loss.

In a follow-up video, Siwa clarified that the spot was due to stress, not the ponytails that she used to regularly wear.

"This is because when I was little — you can see I actually have a little bit of one right now — but when I was little I had a really bad stress rash right here on 'Dance Moms,' and I would pick at it all day long," Siwa said. "And I damaged every single hair follicle that has ever been right there."

Siwa told the New York Times in 2021 that she didn't regret her time on "Dance Moms," saying that "nothing I've ever done has been something I didn't want to do."

She's also spoken highly of coach Abby Lee Miller, who ran the company at the center of "Dance Moms," telling Us Weekly in 2020 that she and Miller still spoke.

"Even though you see her yelling and screaming at children on TV, like Abby made seven stars," Siwa told Us Weekly. "I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for her."