Celebrity Big Brother fans have branded Chris Hughes “creepy” over the comments he made towards JoJo Siwa in the latest episode of the show.
The former Love Island star, 32, and the singer, 21, developed a budding friendship inside the house, which has led to speculation among viewers that there could be romantic undertones.
Hughes and Dance Moms star Siwa, who is gay and in a happy relationship, have been seen laughing in bed together and giving each other massages throughout the series.
During Thursday night’s episode of the show (17 April), Hughes claimed he was “turned on” by Siwa while the housemates played the memory game I Went to the Market.
For the game, housemates took turns to remember a list of supermarket shopping items, with each person adding to the list after they had guessed. Siwa managed to remember a long list of products, which prompted Hughes to turn to her and jokingly said: “That was impressive – a big turn on, that.”
When Siwa misheard him, Hughes repeated the “turn on” comment, which many viewers on X/Twitter dubbed as “creepy” – especially considering Siwa is in a relationship.
“Is anyone else starting to get annoyed by Chris in the #CBB house?” one person asked. “He is so barking up the wrong tree but doesn’t stop and he’s just annoying full stop.”
A further CBB fan said: “Chris is a 32-year-old man constantly making creepy and flirty comments towards a 21 year old woman, who has made it clear she is a lesbian and in a happy relationship.”
Meanwhile, another viewer added: “Why is Chris slowly becoming the creepy uncle?”
Earlier this week, Hughes said he’d be “genuinely crushed” if Siwa left the house because she’s “my person”. He later called Siwa his “girlfriend”, which she quickly reminded him wasn’t the case.
Hughes and Siwa’s closeness has led some viewers to accuse Towie star Ella Mae Wise, also competing on Celebrity Big Brother, of jealousy as she appeared scorned by their friendship.
Other viewers have called it a double standard remarking: “If the roles were reversed and it was a gay man and a straight woman, people would see this as a cute friendship. This is normal and not everything revolves around sexual attraction!!!”
The Love Islander’s brother Ben Hughes said on Lorraine earlier this week: “I actually think that maybe they’ve formed a great friendship due to the fact that Chris stood up for JoJo.
“I think JoJo is in a solid relationship, Chris will know that and I just think that they’ve got each other's backs.”
