Feel the love? JoJo Siwa and Chris Hughes of ‘Celebrity Big Brother' are ‘head over heels'

Los Angeles Times

5 days ago

JoJo Siwa and Chris Hughes are a real couple-couple, not merely platonic 'soulmates,' the former 'Dance Moms' star says.
'It's not platonic anymore,' the 22-year-old told the Guardian in an interview published Monday, 'and it's been a beautiful development, a beautiful connection, and I'm absolutely head over heels for him and he's the same way.'
She said she had a feeling that her recent stint on the U.K. version of 'Celebrity Big Brother' would be transformative. 'Little did I know it was going to change my personal life so much,' she told the outlet. 'By a landslide, it is the best thing that's ever happened to me.'
The breakout 'Dance Moms' personality met the 32-year-old British 'Love Island' veteran on Season 24 of the reality competition, which aired in April. Hughes stepped up to support Siwa after fellow celebrity Mickey Rourke asked her on camera early on whether she liked boys or girls and said that he would 'vote the lesbian out real quick.'
Rourke later told Siwa on 'Big Brother' that it took him '23 years of therapy to get almost normal' and the two appeared to become sort of friends before Big Brother sent the actor home. Siwa told the Guardian that Rourke had explained to her in private that he knew what he was doing and had been trying to get under her skin.
Siwa came out in 2021 at age 17 wearing a black tee emblazoned with the words 'BEST. GAY. COUSIN. EVER.' A day later, she sort of clarified which 'label' she identified with by saying essentially that she didn't know yet.
'The reason why I'm not ready to say this answer is because I don't really know this answer,' the dancer and singer said in an Instagram Live, according to Autostraddle. 'I think humans are awesome. I think humans are really incredible people. I, right now, am super duper happy and I want to share everything with the world, I really do, but I also want to keep things in my life private until they're ready to be public.'
When she went into the 'Celebrity Big Brother' house, Siwa was in a relationship with Kath Ebbs, who identifies as nonbinary. During the run of the show, Siwa told a few members of the group that she was 'not comfortable' putting a label on herself 'because I'm not sure' what it would be.
Days later, she said, 'I think I've always told myself I'm a lesbian. But I think being here, I've realized, 'Oh no, I'm not a lesbian. I'm queer.' And I think that's really cool.' She then announced, 'I'm switching letters! F— the L — I'm going to the Q. That's what I love about sexuality.'
Ebbs eventually flew to the U.K. for the show's wrap party, only to get dumped by Siwa at said party.
'Everything we sort of saw unfold on what I thought was a fake reality show where I didn't need to worry about the validity of my relationship was in fact laced in a lot of truth,' Ebbs said, per Autostraddle, 'Which has been one of the most craziest intense awful horrific experiences I've gone through in my adult life.'
Later in May, Ebbs seemed like she was still rattled, posting a gallery on social media with quotes including ' 'are u ok' yea but can we change the topic before i cry ' and 'so far 2025 feels like being awake during surgery.'
Meanwhile, thanks to Hughes, Siwa told the Guardian that 'the happiness in my life just radiates off of me right now. Literally yesterday, I was massaging my cheeks; I've never [before] been in pain from smiling so much.' (As fans might remember, she actually said her face hurt from smiling so much way back in 2021, after coming out, during the interview where she clarified her no-label status.)
As for Hughes, a week ago, he posted a gallery of photos on Instagram that included numerous shots of himself and Siwa together, all booed up and looking boyfriendy-girlfriendy. That plus a shot of a bowl of SpaghettiOs.
'The previous 7 days have been the prettiest,' his caption said.