Billboard Music Awards 2018: Jenna Dewan Praises Janet Jackson for Winning Icon Award

Jenna Dewan called Janet Jackson a “trendsetter in every single way” as she praised the legend on the night Jackson won the Icon Award at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards.

“I think Janet is an icon, because she is just a trendsetter in every single way, with her dance, with her performance and music. The way that Janet comes on a stage and owns a stage is unlike any one I have ever danced for or ever even seen,” Dewan said in a video shared by Billboard. “She has this quality that brings you in and has this really amazing, heartfelt, sympathetic and also really empathetic… It’s authentic and you feel that quality.”

Dewan, who got her start in the entertainment world as a dancer in a Jackson video, went on to call Jacson “fierce.”

“She owns that stage and dancing next to her is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before,” she continued. “She is an icon.”

“I am so proud of you Janet. I love you so much. You are an icon to me and the entire world,” Dewan concluded.

In an interview with Billboard, Dewan said she became obsessed with Jackson in high school and became “mesmerized” by her and her dancers. When she moved to Los Angeles, she auditioned to dance in Jackson’s “Doesn’t Really Matter” video when she was 19 and surprisingly got the part. One day, Jackson asked her to stay late and invited her to go on the All For You Tour.

Dewan also appeared in the “All For You” video and she was invited to join Jackson at a special Hollywood Bowl performance during the State of the World tour.

After dancing with Jackson, Dewan danced with Justin Timberlake, *NSYNC, P. Diddy, Ricky Martin and Celine Dion. She also starred in the dance movie Step Up, where she met Channing Tatum, her husband from 2009 to April 2018.

“She’s the pinnacle,” Dewan told Billboard. “When you try touring with other people, it never really feels the same. So I was very grateful that acting came around and sort of became a whole new career for me. But that’s how amazing Janet is. She really changed the game for being a dancer with an artist. There’s a certain respect and just like, title that she gives you; she’s the mama bear to all of us. Once a Janet dancer, always a Janet dancer.”

This summer, Dewan will be hosting NBC’s World of Dance with Jennifer Lopez. The competition starts on Tuesday, May 29 at 8 p.m. ET.

Photo by: Todd Williamson/NBC