JoJo Siwa Tells Demi Lovato They Contributed to Her ‘Gay Awakening’

On the latest episode of Demi Lovato’s podcast 4D With Demi Lovato, guest star Jojo Siwa opened up to Demi about coming out, falling in love with her best friend, and identifying her “gay awakening.”

JoJo, who came out in January 2021 as a member of the LGBTQ community, has spoken openly about her sexual identity on social media and how much coming out publicly has positively impacted her life. JoJo has previously stated that she doesn’t feel inclined to place a label on her sexuality, as she’s still growing and “figuring it out,” referring to herself mostly as gay or queer in interviews. "I like queer," JoJo told People back in April. "Technically I would say that I am pansexual, because that's how I have always been my whole life is just like, my human is my human.”

That same month, Demi also came out as pansexual, shortly before announcing that they identify as nonbinary and use they/them pronouns. “I feel like I came out, and then you came out as nonbinary, and I was like, timing, cool,” JoJo told Demi excitedly on Wednesday’s podcast episode.

“I want to give you credit and kudos for coming out, because I know how hard that is, just for anybody to come out,” Demi said to JoJo. “But especially for someone to have their sh*t together at your age, and to have a grasp on their identity is really powerful and I think really inspiring to a lot of people, especially young people who wait until they’re a lot older to come out. For me, I didn’t come out as bisexual until 2017.”

Referring to her own queer identity, JoJo claims that everybody in her life “saw it coming,” calling herself a “walking rainbow.” The 18-year-old former Dance Moms and current Nickelodeon star revealed that she felt no apprehension towards coming out publicly, waiting only to ensure that her best-friend-turned-girlfriend, Kylie Prew, was ready as well. According to JoJo, being queer was something she had always known about herself.

“Everything about it was just so natural, it was just meant to be,” JoJo said. “I've been figuring out my 'gay awakenings' recently. I think I realized that my very first gay awakening was Jenna Dewan's performance on Lip Sync Battle. I think that was one of them, but then I remember — do you remember your dancer, her name is Jojo Gomez, and you did ‘Cool for the Summer’ together? I remember seeing that and just being a little too interested.”

“Cool for the Summer,” Demi’s hit single from the summer of 2015, attracted media attention for its “bi-curious” lyrics and accompanying visuals. For Demi, “Cool for the Summer” was an expression of their gay awakening, too. “When I did ‘Cool for the Summer,’ that song for me was actually my way of sharing with the world without confirming that I was bisexual,” they said. “Because like I said, I didn’t come out until 2017, but ‘Cool for the Summer' was like 2014, 2015. That to me, was my way of saying, ‘I’m not ready to come out, but…’ and I'm so happy that you can see a little glimpse of that pride through that performance.”

JoJo added that one of her girlfriend Kylie’s ‘gay awakenings’ was also through Demi, after attending their concert as a tween. “Wow, I’m so happy I could play a role,” Demi laughed.

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Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue