Jordin Sparks is the host of Roller Jam, a new reality competition series on Max that pits roller-skating crews from across the country against each other for a chance to win $150,000 and a $10,000 donation to their local rink. As an American Idol champ and former Dancing with the Stars contestant, Jordin tells ABC Audio it’s great not be judged, for once.
“It is so much nicer to be on this side of the judging table,” Jordin says. However, her experience helped her to support the contestants.
“I can be down there on the floor with them and be like, ‘Look, I’ve been in your shoes … I know what it feels like,"” she says.
In fact, Jordin says watching Ryan Seacrest on Idol inspired her to become a host. “I was watching how he was reading the teleprompter and interacting with everybody, from the contestants to the judges to the people at home,” she says. “And I was like … ‘I’d love to do that one day.’ So it’s really crazy that now 17 years later, I’m finally getting the chance.”
Jordin says the show has inspired her to take up roller skating again, and she plans to get her son DJ, 6, a pair of skates so they can do it together. She says one of the great things about skating is that it’s “multigenerational” — and so is Roller Jam.
“Grandmas and grandkids can watch [it] together,” she notes.
The crews skate to different eras of music in each episode, so which was Jordin’s favorite?
“I prefer the 2000s, obviously, because it’s songs that I know and love. But when I think of skating … I think about the ’70s,” she says. But ultimately, “You know I’m going to turn on ‘I Want to Dance With Somebody’ by Whitney!”
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