JoJo Siwa was hailed for coming out as a member of the LGBTQ community. The 17-year-old publicly shared her news in January after speculation for weeks prior. She even introduced the world to her girlfriend a few weeks later.
That said, it was a risky move to make. There's been backlash against LGBTQ entertainers, particularly in children's entertainment. Thankfully, JoJo's experience has been positive with both her fans and her network, Nickelodeon, fiercely defending her against any naysayers.
JoJo is a major figure in kids entertainment, and now she's happily living her truth. She opened up about what a day in her busy life as a burgeoning entertainment mogul is like in an interview with People.
JoJo Siwa is everywhere in entertainment — and as an out and proud member of the LGBTQ community. The 17-year-old has her GED and countless merch lines, and she is an accomplished actress and TikTok star.
"I work a lot, but I do normal things!" she told People in a recent interview.
JoJo's whole persona is based around a happy and bubbly personality, but the teen admittedly has had some hard times.
"My struggles deal with being overworked and not getting any sleep," she shared.
"Do I ever have breakdowns? Yes, of course I do. I'm a teenager. There are a lot of times where I just will throw my phone down and lay on my bed and look at the ceiling and cry for a second."
A big part of JoJo's year has been coming out as LGBTQ in January and everything since. That includes introducing the world to her girlfriend, 18-year-old Kylie Prew.
"She never cares what the internet said about us," she says.
"It's nice to have somebody in my life like that."
At first, JoJo wasn't comfortable labeling her sexuality. She's made some progress to that end.
"I still don't know what I am. It's like, I want to figure it out. And I have this joke. Her name is Kylie. And so I say that I'm Ky-sexual," she said.
"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."
"I like queer," she continued.
"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."
JoJo and Kylie met on a cruise. "I told her my whole spiel that I tell everyone when they ask me my life story," JoJo recalled.
"She goes, 'I could have Googled that. I want to know your life story. You just told me about your career. I want to know about you.' And I was like, 'No one's ever asked me that before.'"
JoJo had never wanted coming out to be a big deal but was aware her platform made it inherently so.
"I've known since I was little," JoJo said.
"I did too," her mom, Jessalynn, added. "A mother knows."
That said, they knew making that public could come with a price. "I have a lot that could have gone away because of my love life," JoJo noted.
JoJo Googled herself after going public.
"I never should have done that. I was thinking that all the comments were going to be nice and supportive, and they weren't," she says.
"A lot of them were, 'I'm never buying your merch again. My daughter's never watching you again.' I couldn't sleep for three days."
"My thing is, I don't want people to watch my videos or buy my merchandise if they aren't going to support not only me, but the LGBTQ community," she realized later after gaining some clarity. The words of those who loved and supported her helped her along the way.
"I've never gotten this much support from the world. I think this is the first time that I've felt so personally happy."
JoJo is happy to continue creating content she loves and is proud of for the fans, old and new.
"Performing has always made me super happy," she adds.
"But for the first time, personally, I am like, whoa, happiness. I am so proud to be me."
