English TV personality Chris Hughes is defending girlfriend JoJo Siwa amid backlash to their surprising romance.

The former Love Island contestant and sports presenter told U.K. newspaper The Sun’s Fabulous magazine that since going public with their relationship in June, Siwa has received “hate online” and some social media trolls have even questioned his sexuality.  

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Siwa’s queer identity has been a major theme on this season of Celebrity Big Brother UK.

Siwa, who initially described her sexuality using terms like “gay” and “pansexual” when she came out in 2021 and later began referring to herself as a lesbian, met Hughes while both were contestants on ITV’s Celebrity Big Brother UK earlier this year. The pair formed a close bond, while Siwa, who was then dating nonbinary actor and DJ Kath Ebbs, also admitted on the show that she was more comfortable identifying as queer than as a lesbian.

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“I feel, like, so queer, do you know what I mean?” she said. “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.”

Siwa and Hughes remained in touch after the most recent season of Celebrity Big Brother UK wrapped, and the “Karma” singer reportedly ended her relationship with Ebbs at the show’s wrap party. During various media appearances, Siwa and Hughes continued to insist that their relationship was platonic, despite rampant speculation that Siwa had cheated on Ebbs with Hughes.

Then, in early June, Hughes shared a photo on Snapchat of himself and Siwa in bed together. Siwa later admitted in an interview with The Guardian that the couple’s relationship was no longer platonic.

In an interview with The Daily Mail’s You magazine late last month, Siwa explained that she’d felt “pressure” to identify as a lesbian, including, at times, from others in the LGBTQ+ community. “You just get put in this world where you feel like, because you now have said, ‘Oh, I’m a lesbian’, you have to be a lesbian. And the truth is, sexuality is fluid,” she said.

“I do feel a sense of responsibility that being with me has led to her getting hate,” Hughes told Fabulous. “I don’t understand how anyone could be mean to someone as caring as her.”

Hughes went on to affirm that Siwa is “not now straight just because she’s with me.”

“Sexuality can be fluid, and you should be able to love who you want without judgment,” he insisted. “She is still part of the LGBTQ+ community, she will always be. And while there’s been negativity, there has been so much love.” 

Hughes claimed that he’s also come in for some homophobic backlash online. “I’ve had more people call me ‘gay’ in the last two months of my life than ever before,” he told Fabulous.

But, he said, that hate doesn’t bother him. “I may be feminine in the way I do things, but I wouldn’t change the way I am for anything. I cry a lot, but we live in a world where toxic masculinity exists, and there isn’t an ounce of that in my body.”

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