Olivia Jade Giannulli Says She Was a Straight-A Student in High School: 'I Worked Really Hard'

Olivia Jade Giannulli addressed a "big misconception" about herself as a student on her Conversations with Olivia Jade podcast

Olivia Jade Giannulli is speaking out about a misconception about herself.

On her Conversations with Olivia Jade podcast Monday, she addressed the privilege she has due to her famous parents, Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli.

"I am super aware that I've been given opportunities because of my parents and that I live a very blessed and fortunate and privileged life," the former Dancing with the Stars contestant, 22, said. "But then there's also a part of me that feels ... it's tricky. It's hard to speak on because I know that to the average human, I have it easy. I know that to myself as well."

Olivia also said she still worked hard to get to where she is today. The YouTuber, in fact, revealed she was very studious prior to the nationwide college admissions scandal — a situation that resulted in her parents' arrests in 2019.

"There is a big misconception about me, I feel at least personally, where I get that comment of, 'You don't work hard,' " she said. "But I didn't have to start my YouTube when I was 14. I did put in a lot of work. There's always rumors floating around about my grades — 'She clearly didn't work hard. She must have failed school.' "

Olivia added, "I don't even think I've ever said this publicly but in high school, I had straight A's. I worked really hard at school."

Loughlin, 57, and Mossimo, 58, served time in prison for paying a $500,000 bribe to boost daughters Olivia and Isabella Rose Giannulli's acceptance into the University of Southern California. Ahead of her family's ties to the college admissions scam, Olivia apologized for previously saying she doesn't "really care about school" and is more interested in the college social scene.

Olivia Jade
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

"I'm going to a really nice school," she said on YouTube in 2018. "It just kind of made it seem like I don't care, I just want to brush it off. I'm just gonna be successful at YouTube and not have to worry about school. I'm really disappointed in myself."

At the time, Olivia additionally recognized that her comments were "super ignorant and stupid," adding that it "came across that I'm ungrateful for college."

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Last year, the influencer opened up her previous mistakes on PEOPLE (the TV Show!) and admitted that she's "not proud of the past" but "believes in second chances."

"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 said in September. "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."

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