JoJo Siwa said she has begun questioning different aspects of her gender identity since entering the UK Celebrity Big Brother house.
During the reality show’s livestream, the 21-year-old singer opened up to drag performer Danny Beard, sharing that she feels more aligned with the queer community than with the label “lesbian.”
“I feel, like, so queer, do you know what I mean?” she told her housemate.
Highlights
- JoJo Siwa feels more aligned with the label "queer" than "lesbian," she revealed on Celebrity Big Brother.
- JoJo questioned her gender identity on the reality show while speaking with Chris Hughes and Danny Beard.
- The singer, 21, was previously the target of anti-gay comments from former pro boxer Mickey Rourke, who has since been evicted.
Image credits: Splash News / Vidapress
“I think that’s the thing, I’ve always told myself I’m a lesbian, and I think being here I’ve realized: ‘Oh, I’m not a lesbian, I’m queer,' and I think that’s really cool.”
She continued: “I’m switching letters! F**k the L, I’m going to the Q! That’s what I love about s*xuality.”
Danny, who also identifies as queer, quipped: “And you know that British people love a queue!”
The 21-year-old began questioning different aspects of her identity since entering the Celebrity Big Brother house
Image credits: ITV
JoJo previously discussed her orientation when Mickey Rourke asked her if she liked “boys or girls,” to which she replied: “Me? Girls. My partner is nonbinary,” referring to actor and DJ Kath Ebbs.
Soon after, Mickey began making a series of homophobic remarks targeted at JoJo, including telling the house he was going to “vote the lesbian out” and using the F-slur.
“If I stay longer than four days, you won’t be gay anymore,” he also said.
JoJo clapped back: “I can guarantee I’ll still be gay and I’ll still be in a very happy relationship.”
“I’m switching letters! F**k the L, I’m going to the Q! That’s what I love about s*xuality,” she said
Image credits: slinehan1 / X
Image credits: slinehan1 / X
Since then, JoJo was summoned to speak privately with Big Brother and Love Island star Chris Hughes about a “secret message” between them that broke the rules of the game, as coded communication is not allowed on the show.
When asked what the code meant, the Karma singer spoke emotionally about her gender identity.
“It’s something that I’m not ready, necessarily, to be open about or upfront about, but it has to do with gender and how do I feel. Let’s put it this way… Oh my god, this is a lot…” she said before breaking down in tears.
The Karma singer also said she's "not sure" about how she identifies, adding, "It's OK to not know"
Image credits: ITV
Image credits: Big Brother UK / Instagram
“Essentially, you have female, you have male. I’ve met a lot of females, love them, don’t feel like them. Met a lot of males, love them, definitely not them.
“Met a lot of people in my life that are nonbinary, and these beautiful nonbinary people are who I feel the most like and… I don’t know, it’s not something I want to say about myself yet, but it’s something that is confusing and that’s probably why we were talking about it last night.
“It’s important to be honest, and I think it’s important to also show that it’s OK to not know.”
Image credits: Big Brother UK / Instagram
JoJo, who rose to fame as a child in the show Dance Moms, admitted that she is “afraid” to speak publicly about her identity because she’s “not sure” about how she identifies yet.
The singer and dancer came out as being part of the LGBTQ+ community on social media in 2021 by posting a picture of herself wearing a t-shirt that read "BEST GAY COUSIN EVER."
"I still don't know what I am. It's like, I want to figure it out,” she told People magazine that year.
Image credits: Big Brother UK / YouTube
"But like, I don't know, bisexual, pansexual, queer, lesbian, gay, straight. I always just say gay because it just kind of covers it or queer because I think the keyword is cool."
At the time of the interview, she was only one month into dating her first girlfriend, Kylie Prew.
"I like queer," she added. "Technically I would say that I am pansexual because that's how I have always been my whole life is just like, my human is my human."
She said she knew she wasn’t straight "since [she] was little" and she had "a lot that could have gone away because of [her] love life."
Image credits: ladygunn / itsjojosiwa / Instagram
In April 2024, JoJo described her music genre as “gay pop.”
“I’m not the creator, I’m not the president, but I might be the CEO, or the CMO,” she said.
Last September, the young star displayed a rhinestone-studded chest plate and “bulge” in the cover photoshoot for Ladygunn Magazine.
Opening up about what it’s like to live in the public eye, she shared: “There’s parts of me that the world just doesn’t see because it’s not entertaining.
“And that’s what I always tell everyone. No one wants to see me be boring. The part of me that the world doesn’t see is the person controlling the image you do see.”
In addition to Kylie and her current partner Kath Ebbs, JoJo has dated TikToker Mark Bontempo, content creator Avery Cyrus, and dancer Dakayla Wilson.
People had harsh words for JoJo following her revelations
