In fact, the two stars are so close that on Monday night’s episode, they were shown speaking in code with one another. In the early hours of the morning, Chris held out his hand and told JoJo to write out what she wanted to say, which she did, telling him: “It makes sense, just think about it.”
And JoJo appeared pensive the next morning. Speaking to reality star Ella Rae Wise, JoJo said she was in a “deep thought session,” explaining: “I’m the type of person that really need approval from my mom and my partner… Moreso my mom.”
Later that day, Big Brother exposed that JoJo and Chris had been communicating in secret in front of all of their housemates, and Chris’s reaction was bizarre, to say the least. Speaking to the other stars, Chris insisted that he and JoJo had been discussing learning French and German at school before badly speaking in both languages in a bid to convince them.
“So, what does ‘it makes sense’ mean?” TV presenter Trisha Goddard asked in reference to what Big Brother had told them they’d said to one another during the incident.
“My sexuality,” JoJo abruptly confessed. “My sexuality is what I said makes sense.” She and Chris were then summoned to speak with Big Brother in the Diary Room, where Big Brother directly asked the pair: “What was the secret message?”
“It’s something that I’m not ready, necessarily, to be open about or upfront about, but it has to do with gender and how do I feel. Let’s put it this way… Oh my god, this is a lot…” JoJo began before trailing off and becoming visibly upset. Chris comforted JoJo and pulled her in for a hug as her voice started to crack.
“I’ll be fine,” she insisted, before sharing: “Essentially, you have female, you have male. I’ve met a lot of females, love them, don’t feel like 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 and… I don’t know, it’s not something I want to say about myself yet, but it’s something that is confusing, and that’s probably why we were talking about it last night.”
And JoJo was supported by Chris and their other housemates when she got choked up about the situation in the garden, with 32-year-old drag performer Danny Beard offering seriously meaningful words of wisdom as he supported the young star.
“We’re all good, it’s a great conversation and one that I shouldn’t be scared of having,” JoJo told her concerned housemates, and when asked why she felt scared, she added: “I think because I don’t know myself, all the answers, and so I think… We’re good, it’s great. There’s nothing to do, nothing to change.”
“I get you and I see you,” Danny then reassured her. “I’ve been in this community for a while, and you’re growing up in a public spotlight. You don’t need to give anyone all the answers, ever. Ever. Even when you know them for you, you don’t owe anyone anything, ever.”
“I think that’s why I’m afraid of giving any answer because I’m not sure,” JoJo admitted, to which Trisha replied: “As long as you know who you are, and what have you. The truth is, it might hurt, people might judge you, but if the people you know and you love and your community and your support know the truth… Today’s headlines, as they used to say, is tomorrow’s loo paper.”
And while viewers couldn’t help but praise JoJo’s honesty and vulnerability, as well as the way that the others supported her, the whole situation left them feeling pretty uncomfortable as they questioned whether the show was right to air what JoJo had said, considering she admitted that it wasn’t something that she was ready to be public about.
Despite the uncertain reaction to the scenes airing in any capacity, one thing that viewers did approve of was the way that Chris had JoJo’s back earlier in the episode, with one popular tweet pointing out: “Chris speaking German excuse was basically to protect Jojo because he knew she wasn’t ready to share something so personal with the group, I just LOVE him.”
What do you make of the whole situation? Let me know in the comments below!