Meet JoJo Siwa's New Boyfriend, Chris Hughes

In 2024, it looked like JoJo Siwa had her post-"Dance Moms" career all figured out. Like Madonna or the controversial Kanye West before her, she would become an enfant terrible of pop music. After releasing her song "Karma" and dressing like a Gen-Z Gene Simmons, Siwa's interviews made headlines. "I wanna start a new genre of music, they said 'what do you mean?'" Siwa told Billboard. "I said, 'Well, it's called gay pop.'"

With this comment, Siwa had positioned herself as a pop provocateur and received some serious backlash. "[T]egan and [S]ara have been putting out lesbian pop music longer than JoJo Siwa has been alive," said one user on X. "[Y]et she thinks she's inventing the gay pop genre?? The audacity of that girl is something." Whether Siwa had discovered a new genre or was indebted to her forefathers (foremothers?) like the similarly controversial Miley Cyrus, she had certainly grabbed people's attention with "Karma," which garnered over 50 million views on YouTube. However, the drama over Siwa's rebrand meant her subsequent song, "Guilty Pleasure," failed to gain the same traction.

In 2025, Siwa returned to what she knew best –- reality television -– and entered "Celebrity Big Brother U.K." But on the show, the self-proclaimed "CEO of Gay Pop," seemed to have her eyes set on a member of the opposite sex. Siwa had formed a strong bond with U.K. reality television star Chris Hughes, a bond that viewers soon began speculating about as a romance. Which begs the question: Who is the man that stole Siwa's heart?

Unlike JoJo Siwa, Chris Hughes was not in the limelight from a young age. Rather, the English-born reality television star had humble beginnings. Hughes, who grew up in the west of England –- Gloucestershire to be exact –- lived on a farm in his youth. This had such an influence on his upbringing that he described himself as a "country boy" when he entered the "Love Island U.K." villa (via OK!). It seems Hughes' upbringing was very outdoorsy. He continued, "I won the Milk Cup, an international football tournament, with Swindon when I played for their youth team. I played country cricket for Gloucestershire at a young age. A couple of my best friends are professional jockeys."

These days, "Love Island U.K." contestants often enter the villa with an established personal brand on social media. However, back in 2017, that wasn't required. The future "Celebrity Big Brother U.K." contestant worked as a clothing ambassador for a golf company before reality TV stardom. That's not to say Hughes wasn't a hit with the ladies. "I met two girls at the gym who were best friends. The brunette girl who I initially liked I started texting. I was invited around to her house and ended up having a few too many drinks," he said on the show (via OK!). "I woke up the next morning and I'd spent the night with her best friend, instead of the girl I'd been messaging. It completely blew my chances with the girl I'd wanted to see that night." As they say, a leopard never changes its spots, and he continued being a Casanova into his new career.

Every reality show finds its de facto star, whether it's RHONY's Bethenny Frankel or the hopeless romantic Kim Kardashian; someone always becomes the Harry or the Justin. On "Love Island U.K." in 2017, Chris Hughes was the star. In fact, Hughes' catchphrases from the show still have a cultural cache amongst fans and across social media. Notably, during a somber moment on the island, Hughes said, "Do you want me to rap anyone? Lift the mood a bit" (via Popsugar U.K.)

Despite finishing third on the show with his then-partner, Olivia Attwood, Hughes had firmly cemented himself in "Love Island U.K." lore. "You know who I love," said one "Love Island U.K." viewer on X in 2017. "Chris Hughes that's who." It's fair to say Hughes won over fans' hearts and minds, as he did Attwood's, with his goofy rapping and emotional openness. In one endearing scene, Hughes got overwhelmed with emotion while caring for a toy baby. Some even called for the then-24-year-old to be a fixture of British television. "Swear to f*** [I] better see Chris on I'm a Celeb, Big Brother, Ex on the Beach, Come Dine with Me the lot," said one fan on X. "[C]os he is too good." Soon, that fan's prayers would be answered...

After his stint on "Love Island U.K.", Chris Hughes and then-girlfriend Olivia Attwood were hot property. The pair were getting photographed doing PDA and, as any reality-television star should, they continued to court drama. Their star was ascending as Hughes had two reality television shows commissioned: "Chris and Olivia: Crackin' On" and "Chris & Kem: Straight Outta Love Island".

However, the shows weren't quite the roaring success of their previous endeavor. Hughes and Attwood were not strangers to an argument when in the villa, but their quarrelsome nature continued to a detrimental effect in the outside world. The writing was on the wall and, prior to the show airing, the couple announced their split. The run of "Chris and Olivia: Crackin' On" was subsequently shortened. They certainly didn't hit the ground running after jetting back to the cloudy U.K. from sunny Mallorca. Some pathetic fallacy there, perhaps.

But Hughes wasn't only a reality star. He was beginning to position himself as a multi-hyphenate. In October 2017, Hughes, alongside Kem Cetinay, released their debut single "Little Bit Leave It," named after a popular turn of phrase on the show. However, this was also a false start, as it was the only song the duo released. But the below-the-line comments on YouTube showed that fans did enjoy the track. "They have good voices and accents for rapping," said one viewer. Despite the track's respectable positive reception, Hughes was still finding his feet post-"Love Island U.K."

"Over the weekend, Chris made the decision that he wanted to leave the relationship," Olivia Attwood told "Loose Women" (essentially the U.K.'s answer to "The View"), as she went on to describe her shock at how Chris Hughes called it quits via phone. "I didn't really take it seriously, to be honest with you." Although Hughes broke it off via telephone –- not exactly the classiest way of doing things –- arguably, the blame can be shared between the reality stars. The aforementioned weekend saw Attwood send a slew of Tweets to her ex-boyfriend, the journeyman soccer player Bradley Dack, calling him a "fatty." She then took aim at fellow islander "Muggy" Mike Thalassitis, calling him "a massive p****" (via the Daily Mail).

This didn't exactly go down well with Hughes. Attwood was allegedly still romantically involved with Dack, and her tweets were the straw that broke the camel's back. But Hughes doesn't get off scot-free. The future "Celebrity Big Brother U.K." contestant was caught up in controversy when he allegedly lied about flirtatiously messaging reality star Katie Price whilst he was still in a relationship with Attwood. 

You'd think spending weeks embroiled in "Love Island U.K." drama would have been enough for these two. But like any reality personality, controversy follows them wherever they go. Sadly, phones, social media, and drama aren't a great recipe for monogamy.

In January 2019, Chris Hughes and Little Mix's Jesy Nelson were spotted locking lips at a London kebab spot. Two months later, despite rumors of a break-up, the pair went Instagram official, picturing themselves loved-up at an airport. From there, their relationship really took off — literally and figuratively.

It seemed like the couple had met their match with each other, and Nelson would never have to shout out an ex again. "I just want to be with Chris for the rest of my life, he's the one that makes me happy," said the "Boyz" singer in a BBC documentary (via Cosmopolitan). "[W]hether we had kids or not, it won't affect anything. All I can do is just be there for him as someone that loves him, just keep an eye on him and hopefully it will be alright."

However, it wasn't all right for the couple. In April 2020, a source revealed that the relationship was over and the pair were living separately during the pandemic. To rub salt in the wound, the aforementioned quote was from a documentary released after they split. A month later, Nelson deleted all photos of the former "Love Island U.K." star from her Instagram – things had gone full circle. Once again, though, Hughes may have had himself to blame.

Whilst Chris Hughes was still in a relationship with Jesy Nelson, he found himself the subject of a police investigation. Drama, it seems, follows Hughes like a shadow. At the NTAs (the U.K's National Television Awards), while Nelson was celebrating her win for Best Factual Program, Hughes was involved in a blazing fight with a paparazzi outside his hotel. The photographer later claimed it was the result of a misunderstanding, but it quickly escalated into violence bathed in the glow of paparazzi flash bulbs. 

"I want to address last night's altercation. I was having an amazing night celebrating the award my girlfriend deservedly won," wrote Hughes in an apologetic Instagram story (via the Daily Mail). "I'm human. No different to anyone else's however I want to make everyone aware this was only in self defense ... This night was about Jesy's win and I am sorry if I distracted anyone from this. Ultimately, I'm the proudest boyfriend ever and want to congratulate my amazing girlfriend for a deserving win." We can understand that, if on her big night, Hughes' behavior put the "Black Magic" songstress's nose out of joint. Perhaps it was no surprise that the couple split a few months later.

After his break-up with Jesy Nelson, Chris Hughes' career began to move in the direction of presenting. More specifically, he tapped back into his sporting roots by fronting cricket and horse racing coverage. However, as per usual, Hughes did not stray far from drama.

"We watched 'Barbie' the other night all together and it was really good team bonding and the group is gelling really well together," said cricketer Maitlan Brown when speaking to Hughes on a live BBC broadcast (via the Guardian). Hughes replied, "You're a little Barbie yourself, aren't you, with your blue eyes." Brown attempted to laugh off the comment, but Hughes' employers wouldn't see the funny side. "We have spoken to Chris and explained that his comment was not appropriate," said a BBC spokesperson (as per the Guardian).

Nor did social media, a place where Hughes typically has great success, as shown by his 2 million-plus followers on Instagram. "All the people saying this is fine," said one user on X. "It may be in private, but not when you're interviewing a sportsperson about sport on national TV." Another X user made a sarcastic suggestion to Hughes' employers, "Re Chris Hughes... Crazy idea, stay with me on this, but maybe get us sports journalists and reporters to do those jobs." This was someone, after all, who gained notoriety via "Love Island U.K.", a show where flirting is the name of the game. But this time, Hughes flirted in an inappropriate context. As they say, old habits die hard.

Typically, reality television knows who it likes and likes who it knows. So it was no surprise when Chris Hughes followed Johnny Mitchell and Gabby Allen down the "Love Island U.K." to "Celebrity Big Brother U.K." pipeline. Despite understanding the reality television game, Hughes was "looking forward to the fact that it's very much an unknown" (as per the Radio Times).

The reality veteran continued, stating he was excited "[t]o meeting new people, getting to spend time with people who are from very different environments to myself and the whole social experiment behind it — the whole Big Brother experience, really" (as per the Radio Times). There'd be someone in the house that he would go on to spend a lot of time with who was from a very different background. In a way, Hughes "Love Island"-ified his "Celebrity Big Brother U.K." experience.

When the wildly different-looking Mickey Rourke made homophobic comments towards JoJo Siwa, who then identified as lesbian (sexuality, of course, is a movable feast), Hughes jumped to her defense. From there, the pair began a friendship that grew double-fast inside the confines of the house. A friendship that even entailed cuddling in bed with each other. That's not a typo, it was friendship — according to them. Siwa, who was dating Kate Ebbs when she arrived on "Celebrity Big Brother U.K.", was at pains to stress that fact.

After leaving the "Celebrity Big Brother U.K." house, JoJo Siwa and Chris Hughes maintained that whatever went on in front of the camera was just friendship. "Christopher and I have had a lot of chats," said Siwa during an appearance on the talk show "Lorraine." "But we've never had that version of a chat," referring to the boyfriend-girlfriend chat.

However, Siwa and Hughes' actions seemed to contradict their words. In an Instagram carousel prior to her appearance on "Lorraine", Hughes and Siwa looked to be in a non-platonic relationship. "The previous 7 days have been the prettiest," wrote Hughes alongside photos of the pair cuddling.

Much like Hughes' stint on "Love Island U.K.", the drama didn't end once the show stopped airing. At the "Celebrity Big Brother U.K." wrap party, Siwa dumped her partner Kate Ebbs with Hughes in attendance. In the days following the party, Siwa's TikTok account was seen liking suggestive videos of her and Hughes, including one captioned "JoJo and Chris are so giving me Jack and Rose vibes" (via the Daily Mail). You don't need a detective-style corkboard and infinite red string to figure out what type of relationship this really was.

If Chris Hughes' aforementioned Instagram post wasn't enough to confirm this relationship as non-platonic, then JoJo Siwa adapting the lyrics of Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes" to, you guessed it, "Chris Hughes' eyes" (via Heart), certainly was. Not to mention, Siwa also wore a bejewelled Sunderland A.F.C. jersey – the soccer team Hughes supports – later in the concert. It was some serious PDA for the de facto couple.

"Chris Hughes posting a picture of himself in bed with the self-proclaimed inventor of gay pop, JoJo Siwa," wrote one user on X. "[O]n the first day of pride month has got to be some sort of homophobia?" Finally, after all the uncertainty, Siwa confirmed that the pair had gone official. "'It's not platonic any more," she told the Guardian. "[I]t's been a beautiful development, a beautiful connection, and I'm absolutely head over heels for him and he's the same way."

If Siwa's words are anything to go by, then this isn't just a relationship... it's love. "You know what's interesting? As hectic as life is, and as much as that noise goes on, I feel like Christopher and I discovered this beautiful house together," the Nebraska native told Capital (via the Daily Mail). "[W]e took the keys and locked ourselves in, and now it's like... You know what I mean? I feel like that with myself, I feel like that with him." Although Hughes' ex Olivia Attwood implied it's all for show, isn't that what we're all looking for in our partner?