Chris Hughes acknowledged the shift in his relationship with JoJo Siwa after she revealed they were more than friends.
“Obviously, we’re all talking about it. Congratulations on the relationship. We’re all very excited,” British TV host Ben Shephard told Hughes, 32, during his Tuesday, June 3, appearance on the U.K.’s This Morning. “Have we decided whether it’s ‘Hughes-Wa’? What’s the power couple name?”
Hughes took the question in stride, responding with their official couple name.
“They call it ‘CoJo’. That’s the one they’re all going for,” Hughes responded, as the show’s host offered well-wishes.
Siwa, 21, revealed on Monday, June 2, that her relationship with Hughes had shifted during an interview with U.K.’s The Guardian. (The confirmation came after Hughes posted a selfie in bed with Siwa.)
“It’s not platonic anymore, and it’s been a beautiful development, a beautiful connection, and I’m absolutely head over heels for him and he’s the same way,” she said of Hughes, shutting down any speculation that it was a “PR stunt.”
“Clearly, you’ve never been around us,” Siwa continued. “I won’t ever speak for him, but for me personally, the happiness in my life just radiates off of me right now.”
Siwa went on to say that she was “massaging” her cheeks because of all the smiling she’s been doing in this new romance.
“I’ve never [before] been in pain from smiling so much,” she added.
Siwa and Hughes raised some eyebrows with Celebrity Big Brother viewers during their April appearance on the show. Further romance rumors started swirling after Siwa and her partner Kath Ebbs broke things off the night of the Celebrity Big Brother finale.
Following the reality show, Siwa insisted that their relationship was solely platonic. She also told Us Weekly exclusively that her friendship with Hughes had “absolutely nothing to do with my breakup” from Ebbs.
“We still speak all the time, obviously, naturally,” she said during her digital cover story last month. “Now to be out of the house, we just exist, and it is what it is. We’re happy, and we have each other. It’s a great little special friendship that we have.”
Siwa also told Us that she fully understood why people “were enjoying” seeing the ins and outs of her friendship with Hughes.
“What’s so special about Chris and I is that our bond is so genuine that neither of us care what people make of it,” the Dance Moms alum added. “Because we know our genuine friendship and we know our bond. It’s a great little special friendship that we have. And I literally send him videos of us dancing all the time.”
