At some point, we need to stop pretending like JoJo Siwa’s EP Guilty Pleasure, and her knack for oversharing just the right amount on the internet aren’t low-key iconic.
On Nov. 1, during a panel at Rhode Island Comic-Con, JoJo gave an insightful talk about her career and personal life and how she navigates what she should share with the public.
“You know, it’s interesting. My mom always used to tell me, ‘The whole world doesn’t need to know everything, JoJo. You can keep some things a secret.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, totally,'” she told People, who moderated the Comic-Con panel.
“Secrets are hard to keep. It’s so hard to keep. When you’re so excited about something … I was kind of born to share my life with the world, and I’m OK with that, and I enjoy that,”‘ she said.
If you followed even an ounce of her career, you’ll notice JoJo’s not afraid to put herself out there. Last month, she went on the Hawk Tuah Girl, aka Haliey Welch’s podcast Talk Tuah, and talked about her bedroom antics and the backlash she received from wearing underwear for a magazine cover story with a fake bulge.
“I mean, I started out in a great relationship. When I first came out, I was in a very, very good relationship,” JoJo said. “We were young. I mean, I was 17 and she was 16. Odds are — sorry if anybody’s 17 or 16 — but odds are your relationship is not going to work at that age. And if you’re older than that, or if you have a 17 and 16-year-old and you see them and they think they’re getting married, you can laugh at that because we all know it’s not how it works. Sometimes, some high school sweethearts do work out. There is a very small percentage, but it was just very cute, typical.”
“But then after that, I had a public relationship with somebody else that wasn’t the best — it kind of seemed like it was the best, but it really wasn’t the best. And then, after it ended, it was really not the best. And it just scared me from sharing relationships publicly,” she continued.
But that changed when she met her current partner, former So You Think You Can Dance contestant Dakayla Wilson.
“Just around three months ago, I got into a relationship with an incredible girl, and it’s been interesting,” JoJo said. “I was OK to go public with her. She feels special, and we’re in a very comfortable place. I’ve never really been in this place that I’m at with her in a relationship before.”
She continued, “I’m also so young. I’m 21. She’s also young. She’s only 19. We’re both still figuring life out and I think I accepted that. I’ve accepted we’re both figuring life out. We’re not perfect, but we have fun. I love the girl. She loves me and we’re having a good time.”
Despite having extreme visibility on the internet, it doesn’t make JoJo feel as if she’s necessarily a role model. “I don’t necessarily ever think to myself, ‘I’m a role model. I need to do this.’ I think other people might look at me though and go, ‘Oh, you’re a role model.'”
She then went on to add, “I don’t want to live my life as I’m a role model. I need to be a role model. Or, you’re watching me because I’m a role model, so I need to act like a role model. I want to live my life and be a good person.”
And on that note, listen to Guilty Pleasure — live out loud, and thank me later.