JoJo Siwa forced to address ‘lavender relationship’ claims about her and boyfriend Chris Hughes

JoJo Siwa has hit out at cruel trolls who have suggested that she and her boyfriend Chris Hughes are in a ‘lavender relationship’.

The 23-year-old former Dance Moms star has been dating the Love Island alum, 33, for a year now after they first met in the Celebrity Big Brother house back in April and instantly hit it off as pals.

JoJo was in a relationship with influencer Kath Ebbs at the time; however, this came to an end following a break-up, which took place at the show’s afterparty.

After leaving the reality TV show, their friendship quickly blossomed into a romance last June, which saw them travelling between America and the UK to see each other.

While they’ve been going from strength to strength ever since, the couple has also sadly faced hate on social media, forcing JoJo to clarify her sexuality last month.

Chris and JoJo have officially been dating for a year now, after they met in the Celebrity Big Brother house (Instagram/@chrishughes)

She told US Weekly in April: “I clearly am not a straight human being. I could never say that I’m straight. Am I in a straight relationship? Yes. Am I in love with a man? Yes! Do I want to spend the rest of my life with him? Absolutely. But does that discredit my past? Absolutely not. Zero”

And now, she’s elaborated on the subject during a new episode E!'s Hot Goss podcast with Eyal Booker and Lonnie Marts.

She explained how she’d heard people describe their relationship as ‘so lavender’ and had to do some research into the phrase.

The reality TV star said, “I had no clue what it meant before. I Googled it, and I was like, 'Oh, grow up!'"

For context, a 'lavender marriage' is a union between a man and woman, with either or both partners being gay or bisexual.

They have been around for decades and were historically popular among LGBTQ+ community members who wanted to hide their sexual orientation in eras and industries where being 'out' simply wasn't an option.

JoJo has opened up on the scrutiny she's faced for dating a man (Instagram/itsjojosiwa)

JoJo explained: “I hate that people think that love is controllable, and that’s in a double sense for me, right.

"I came out when I was 17, I had a wonderful relationship with a girl.

“Coming out dating a man for me ended up getting more scrutiny than coming out dating a girl, which is fascinating. Maybe it’s just cause I was younger and more naive to the hate, I didn’t really care as much.”

She added, “I think a lot of people took it in a negative way for the fun of it, because it’s fun to be negative sometimes. People thought Chris and I's relationship was not real.

“Obviously, now I have a wonderful, year-long, beautiful relationship with hopefully my forever partner. I love Chris with my whole entire heart.”

JoJo clarified: “Prior to Chris, I was never interested in men. Still not interested in men as a whole, I’m just interested in a man, right, singular.”

The Dance Moms star admitted she had to Google the term (Instagram/@jojosiwa)

It comes after Chris exclusively spoke to Tyla about how they make long-distance work, with him living in Surrey, England, and JoJo located in Los Angeles, California.

He laughed: "When I speak to the people around me, I think everybody thinks it’s more of a struggle than it is. I don’t find it a struggle to fly over there, or for her to fly over here. I quite like it.

"The jet lag is never fun, but I like the element of travelling. It’s a different level of excitement. It’s never been too stressful."

Chris added: "Obviously, yes, you’re seeing each other less than you would if you lived an hour or two down the road, or in the north of England, I get that."