Cliff Notes – How Celebrity Big Brother’s JoJo Siwa and Chris Hughes went from friends to soulmates
- Chris Hughes has publicly declared JoJo Siwa his ‘soulmate’ after forming a close bond during their time on Celebrity Big Brother, sparking speculation about their relationship status.
- JoJo recently ended her relationship with partner Kath Ebbs, coinciding with her growing friendship with Chris, which has raised eyebrows among viewers and housemates alike.
How Celebrity Big Brother’s JoJo Siwa and Chris Hughes went from friends to ‘soulmates’
In what was the most unexpected friendship to emerge from Celebrity Big Brother, Chris Hughes has now declared JoJo Siwa to be his ‘soulmate’.
Over the past few weeks the Dance Moms star, 21, has generated plenty of attention after growing close to fellow housemate Chris, 32.
During their time on the show the pair quickly hit it off and spent much of their time in the house together.
They then became the subject of much speculation they were more than friends, after being filmed cuddling and giving each other back rubs.
Although their actions raised eyebrows, some shut down claims they were more than friends however in the past few days they’ve again come under the spotlight after JoJo dumped her partner Kath Ebbs at the show’s wrap party.
Today they appeared on This Morning together, where Chris went on to speak about their ‘strong friendship’. Here’s everything we know about JoJo and Chris’ close bond that developed just a few weeks ago.
First impressions in the house
On Monday April 7, Celebrity Big Brother hit screens again, with a string of stars signing up to cut themselves off from the world for a few weeks.
They included Hollywood star Mickey Rourke, talk show host Trisha Goddard, drag queen Danny Beard and Eastenders’ Patsy Palmer, as well as JoJo and Chris.
Two of the youngest in the house, they quickly hit it off.
Standing up to Mickey Rourke
However, it was after Chris told off Mickey for directing a homophobic comment towards JoJo that they appeared to become close.
On their first day in the house Mickey told JoJo: ‘If I stay longer than four days, you won’t be gay anymore.’ He then threatened to tie her up and ‘vote the lesbian out real quick’ before making the offensive homophobic comment.
Calling Mickey out, Chris told the actor he ‘can’t say that’, before comforting JoJo, who told him after: ‘What I felt just then was you had my back when I’ve known you for 24 hours and you have no reason to have my back.’
Bonding while breaking the rules
After becoming inseparable, JoJo and Chris were seen sharing many cuddly moments and late-night whisper sessions.
However, during their first week in the house they were reprimanded by Big Brother for ‘breaking the rules’ after she wrote a message on his hand one night. They were then made to speak to each other through megaphones.
While it was initially believed they might have been discussing nominations, JoJo later revealed the message had been in reference to ‘her sexuality’ and she’d been discussing her gender identity with Chris.
‘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,’ she told Big Brother before explained that she suspected she might identify as non-binary.
Facing ‘gameplayer’ accusations
Chris and JoJo’s friendship came under the microscope in the house, with some of their fellow housemates claiming it was all for show.
Before he was sent packing Olympic decathlete Daley Thompson accused them of ‘playing a game’.
The next day Ella declared: ‘I just feel, and this is my personal opinion, that there are social climbers in this industry, and I think he would benefit a hell of a lot.’
Chris later went on to take aim at Ella, accusing her of being ‘jealous’ of his and JoJo’s ‘matching energies’.
‘She isn’t sweet on JoJo so there might be a jealously thing there I don’t know, she likes to have her two pence worth and if she’s out of a conversation she wants to be in it,’ he said in the diary room.
However, he went on to break down while speaking to Big Brother in the diary room, sharing: ‘I’m literally just in here being me, living. I hate toxic stuff in life like I hate environments. It just brings you down.
‘You can feel when energy shifts and it’s not nice. I don’t want to be emotional and sad, but you can’t help it sometimes. People have made me feel like I can’t have a friendship with JoJo. Or feel like I have to justify a friendship with JoJo – because we get on and we have fun. I’m actually really sad.’
During one episode Chris confessed that he would kiss JoJo if he had the chance, to which she joked ‘sucks to be you!’
Many viewers struggled to believe their relationship was solely platonic, with some accusing JoJo of cheating on her partner Kath Ebbs.
Kindred souls acting catty
Chris and JoJo did however spark strong backlash from viewers during one episode.
In a task given by Big Brother, the celebrity housemates had to pretend to be cats for the day, providing litter trays in the bathroom.
However, the pair did actually use them and urinated in the trays, covering up the mess with their hands in actions viewers labelled ‘disgusting’.
Who is Chris’ ex-girlfriend?
Chris rose to fame on the 2017, where he met and started dating Olivia Attwood, but they split up about a year later.
However ahead of him entering the Celebrity Big Brother house, Olivia apparently warned Ella that he ‘comes into things with a game plan’.
‘There are two sides to every story, but I guess my side, I told Ella when I was on ‘TOWIE’, just to give some context of the situation of what she knows,’ she revealed.
‘Some people, very few people, go on reality tv and they are 100 per cent themselves – the good, the bad, the ugly – they are the same on or off camera.
‘Other people, they go on reality TV, they are one person and when you experience them off camera, you literally, it’s like shapeshifters…’
Who was JoJo dating when she went into the house?
Ahead of entering the Celebrity Big Brother house JoJo was dating Australian actor, writer, presenter and content creator Kath, 27.
The couple went public in January this year, with JoJo saying she was ‘so happy’ and in a ‘very mature relationship’.
‘It’s taught me so much about life. It’s taught me so much about love and respect, and it’s a beautiful thing,’ she told People.
‘It’s different in more ways than I can count. I wouldn’t even know what to say the biggest is ‘cause just everything is so different and special.’
JoJo’s personal realisations and ‘confusing’ feelings
JoJo came out as pansexual in 2021 but has described herself as gay in recent interviews.
However, during her time in the house, she revealed she was no longer sure that she identified as a lesbian.
Speaking to Danny, she said: ‘I feel so queer. I’ve never – I think I’ve always told myself, I’m a lesbian. I think you – I think being here – I’ve realised I am not a lesbian, I’m queer.’
Afterparty break-up and what’s next
The morning after Kath was spotted fleeing the show’s afterparty over the weekend, they shared a video on social media revealing JoJo had dumped them.
‘I don’t even know where to begin. I’m filming this in a complete state of shock, which I know is probably distressing and giving, “Go have a sleep”,’ they began.
Kath went on to say they’d ‘experienced a version of love bombing’ and revealed they’d discussed marriage with JoJo before she went into the house.
‘In the last eight hours, I flew here and went to the live show to show up for my partner and support them in their experience and later on, address my feelings of hurt and work through them. Like all relationships do. But before I could even get back to the hotel I… it’s actually crazy… I went to the afterparty with my now ex and was dumped in the party. I was told there were confused feelings there and they had realised in the house I wasn’t the person they wanted to spend the foreseeable with,’ they added.
Kath said JoJo dumped them at the reality show’s afterparty (Picture: Don Arnold/ WireImage)
Appearing on This Morning alongside on Chris on Monday, JoJo confirmed details of the break-up.
‘I’ll be honest, that was not a plan, that was not an intention, that was not supposed to happen like that,’ she said.
She explained that originally, Kath had said that they didn’t want to attend the afterparty but then did at the last minute.
At the party Kath asked her if she was happy, to which she replied ‘no’, before they ended their relationship.
Host Ben Shephard then asked whether her friendship was a ‘catalyst’ for the former’s break-up.
‘I think our friendship, it’s hard to explain. It’s just a strong bond between two people, just a strong friendship. I think you can have a soulmate friendship,’ Chris answered.
Cat Deeley then asked JoJo whether she would love her connection with Chris to become more than platonic.
Dodging the question, she called him a ‘great guy’ before adding: ‘Whatever life does, life will do.’
Celebrity Big Brother is streaming on ITVX.