JoJo Siwa has been on a real rollercoaster ride over the past month. The reality dance star turned pop singer went from having her honor defended by housemate Chris Hughes on Celebrity Big Brother UK after homophobic comments from actor Mickey Rourke to breaking up with then-partner Kath Ebbs at the show’s wrap party and then partnering up with Hughes.
Now, reunited with Billboard‘s Tetris Kelly — he of the infamous “Gay Pop” interview — Siwa says “30 days ago I would have never even imagined I’d be friends with Chris Hughes,” calling their now-official relationship “the weirdest” idea. But, the heart wants what it wants, and, as of this week, the couple are Instagram official and appear to be inseparable.
In the episode of “Take Us Out” recorded at Burbank Priscilla’s (watch the full video above), JoJo says that Hughes is now the closest person in her life, someone she would “die for… when someone comes into your life and you enjoy it, you can tell.” That said, Kelly wondered how it’s felt for Siwa to be figuring out her sexuality in front of the whole world.
“It’s really hard because people tear it apart,” she says of her full embrace of queer life. “I understand if you have no context why people tear things apart… there’s people going through this same thing that I’m going through. There’s somebody who’s identified as one sexuality and then maybe had this realization within themselves but they don’t now feel they can’t change or grow.” Siwa says she felt like she was being placed in a box she wasn’t meant to be in when she came out. “I’ve dated beautiful women, I’ve date beautiful non-binary people, I have dated men… but I realize that’s just who I am. I realize for myself that I just like humans.”
Siwa also touches on her excitement in the run-up to her 22-date An Unforgettable Night Out summer tour, which kicks off on July 10 in Houston, TX. “I’m an adult now, which is crazy,” says Siwa, 22, about her first outing in three years and first one as a legal grown up. “There’s elements in this show that make it a lot different than just a typical concert,” she explains about the show that will mix her songs with bits about her time on Dance Moms, funny sketches and JoJo the Bilbo references.
She made a point of addressing that flap over the $900 “Dream Guest VIP” ticket offer, in which she told fans they would get to help her “build the set” for the show. “People did take that as actual building the set,” she says, making a wrenching motion. If you want to carry props out on stage, JoJo says that’s fine, but that’s not what she intended.
“The point was people are going to get to have their say in what we actually do that night,” she clarifies about allowing four die hards at each stop help put together that night’s set list.
In a vulnerable moment, Siwa talked about the trepidation she felt before releasing her March single “Bulletproof,” in which she publicly embraced her queerness. “Music is probably the thing I’m most insecure about,” she says. “I think a lot of people have a lot of things to say and I think I’ve also done some things that have fueled that fire… it’s vulnerable. And now it has put me in a place where I don’t like to say I’m a singer.”
She recalls opening up about that fear on Big Brother, where she proclaimed that she “can’t sing, but I can release a song. And I can make a point” while casually teasing that she’s working on her first-ever full length album with her favorite production team, Rock Mafia. She admits that she’s dying to be on the hit Peacock competition show The Traitors, while simultaneously pitching her own reality show starring all her best pals from previous gigs on Dancing With the Stars, Special Forces and Big Brother.
Watch JoJo talk about “Bulletproof,” “Fighter,” balancing stage JoJo vs. real life JoJo and her tangled love life in the video above.
