ITV CBB under fire after ‘forcing contestant to come out as non-binary’ with intrusive probe after secret conversation
JoJo Siwa was seen breaking down on Tuesday’s Celebrity Big Brother after being asked to reveal the subject of her private conversation with former Love Island star Chris Hughes.
Siwa, 21, shared her gender identity in the Diary Room when asked about the conversation, but some viewers have fumed about the personal moment, accusing the show of “forcing” the singer to reveal her identity.
Siwa and Hughes, 32, have formed a very close friendship on the show, with the two often opening up to each other.
The episode saw Siwa lying on the floor next to Hughes, when the dancer traced something on Hughes’ hand.
She whispered to him: “It makes sense, just think about it,” before Hughes turned around to go to sleep.
Later, Siwa defended herself to the other housemates, telling them the message wasn’t about nominations but was to do with “her sexuality”.
The two appeared in the Diary Room later, where Big Brother probed into what the message had been about.
“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 I feel,” Siwa replied.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Trisha Goddard left ‘fuming’ as ITV CBB fans spot hidden detail as star is evictedTrisha Goddard sparks outrage as ITV CBB fans fume ‘you’re from the UK’ after Patsy Palmer snubMichael Fabricant speaks out on ‘very bad’ Trisha Goddard ‘Islamophobia’ spat after ITV CBB axe
Leaning on Hughes for support, who threw a comforting arm around her, Siwa continued: “Let’s put it this way.
“Oh my God, this is a lot. Essentially, you have female, you have male.
“I’ve met a lot of females and love them but don’t feel like I’m them. Met a lot of males, love them but definitely not them.”
She went on to reveal she believes she identifies as non-binary, adding: “I’ve met a lot of people in my life that are non-binary, and these beautiful non-binary people are who I feel the most like.
“It’s not something that I want to say about myself yet but it’s something that is confusing. So, that’s probably why we were talking about it last night.”
“JoJo, thank you for being so honest and sharing with Big Brother,” the voice responded.
Siwa later became emotional as she reflected later on the thoughts she had been having.
The episode sparked a huge backlash online, with one writing on X: “WHY THE F*** DID BIG BROTHER BASICALLY JUST FORCE JOJO SIWA TO TALK ABOUT HOW SHE MIGHT BE NON BINARY EVEN THOUGH SHE WAS UNCOMFORTABLE SHARING IT?!?”
“I get that they had to ask the question, but then they didn’t have to air what JoJo was talking about. Seems a bit cruel, especially when she said she’s not ready,” another commented.
A third argued: “I don’t think jojo’s big brother chat should’ve been aired? she’s still confused and working things out herself let alone having the world now putting their two cents in.”
“I don’t think they should have aired that diary room convo, that wasn’t really fair. She said she wasn’t ready,” another shared.
Someone else posted: “I seriously hope you all got jojo’s permission to air that!”
“The way Big Brother just forced her to come out the closet,” one more added.
However, others argued against this take, with another responding: “Forced how? They asked a question, she could have said not ready to share and job done.”
“Big Brother didn’t force her to do anything. She’s playing a game to get more public votes, and it’s working,” someone else theorised. (sic)
GB News has contacted ITV about the complaints.