JoJo Siwa has had a tumultuous run on Celebrity Big Brother UK to say the least. While the pop star has endured homophobic abuse from former castmate Mickey Rourke, she has also found support within the cast to explore her gender. Now in a new after-hours livestream, Siwa clarified her evolving gender identity.
On Tuesday, livestream footage showed Siwa having a heart-to-heart with fellow castmate and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner Danny Beard.
“I think being here, I realize, ‘Oh, I’m not a lesbian, I’m queer,’” Siwa explained. “And I think that’s really cool. I’m switching letters! F*ck the L, I’m going to the Q. That’s what I love about sexuality.”
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This brief chat represents a culmination of Siwa’s gender journey throughout the show. Siwa has previously said that she accepts any pronouns but has avoided labelling her gender identity. Last week, she reopened that conversation in front of the Big Brother cast.
On last Tuesday’s episode, the disembodied announcer voice (the titular Big Brother) questioned Siwa about secret messages she had exchanged with fellow castmate and former Love Islander Chris Hughes.
“It’s something that I’m not ready, necessarily, to be open about or up front about, but it has to do with gender and how do I feel,” she explained. Becoming overwhelmed, Siwa added, “This is a lot.”
Hughes jumped in to comfort her. “She’s alright,” he said. “She’ll get there.”
After composing herself, Siwa continued, “Essentially, you have female, you have male. Met a lot of females, love them, don’t feel like I’m 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,” she went on. “It’s not something I want to say about myself yet, but it’s something that is confusing.”
Big Brother thanked her for her honesty. “It’s important to be honest and I think it’s important to also show that it’s okay to not know,” Siwa replied.
While fans have criticized the show for pressuring her to open up about something she wasn’t ready to talk about, Siwa has also received an outpouring of support. Her mother, who runs her social media account, commented on the recent clip, “What you are feeling inside is absolutely okay, you can talk about it whenever you decide.
“No pressure and no judgement, only love and support always.”
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