Chris Hughes has hit back at trolls who criticised the 11-year age gap with Celebrity Big Brother co-star JoJo Siwa.
The 32-year-old struck up a bond with the social media star, 21, during the reality show before it had been revealed that Siwa broke up with her partner Kath Ebbs at the CBB after party.
It comes as the former child star told housemate Danny Beard that she now identifies as queer rather than a lesbian.
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Although some found the pair's bond an uncomfortable watch during the show, Siwa has since insisted that it wasn't romantic.
“Look, he’s a great guy. It is platonic. We have a lot of fun together. Life is life, and I don’t know any future of anything, but I’m really grateful for our dynamic that we have, and our bond that we have, and whatever life does, life will do,” Siwa said on This Morning.
As reported by The Mirror in what appears to be a deleted comment, Hughes has also defended their friendship.
"Damn this is inappropriate," a troll reportedly wrote underneath a photo of the pair playing tennis on Siwa's Instagram page.
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"I have friends who are 50+ too, you weirdo," Hughes was said to have replied.
Opening up about her breakup at the after party, Siwa said 'that was not a plan, that was not an intention, that was not supposed to happen like that'.
“Initially I was told that the wrap party was something they didn’t want to attend and then about an hour into the wrap party, they decided they wanted to," she added on This Morning.
“And so I was genuinely just going to have a conversation before and then it just led to another. They straight up asked me if I was happy, and I said ‘No’.
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“One thing led to another, and that conversation did take place there.”
Ebbs has since taken to social media and given her own opinions on the breakup, saying that she felt Siwa 'love bombed' them, as she reportedly told them that they were the 'love of [Siwa's] life'. She also claimed that the 'Karma' singer had even asked to marry them before Celebrity Big Brother.
When asked whether her friendship with Hughes had impacted her decision, Siwa said: “Obviously we’re close, obviously we’re tight.”
Hughes added: “Our friendship is just a… it’s hard to explain, it’s just a really strong bond between two people, which is just a strong friendship.
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“And I think you can have, like, a soulmate friendship. I think that’s a thing.
“And to me, it’s like that energy of where it’s not like the standard friendship that you have with your friends, but it’s still a friendship.
“We are friends, and it’s just nice, and… I found it strange, because it was such a strong friendship.”
Topics: Celebrity Big Brother, Celebrity News, JoJo Siwa, LGBTQ
Anish Vij