JoJo Siwa revealed that when she publicly came out as gay in 2021, she received a call from Elton John.
The 19-year-old dancer discussed the first time that she was introduced to the musician during an interview with E! News on Sunday while at the Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium concert.
“I remember the first time I ever got to meet Elton was backstage at one of his concerts and I got to talk to him for 45 minutes,” she said. “I was only 15 and that conversation changed my life forever.”
Siwa then recalled that when she publicly came out “to the world”, she got a “call from a random number in the UK.”
“And I was like: ‘Who the heck is calling me from the UK?’ So I answer it, cause you know at the same time I’m a teenager,” she continued. “[And John said] ‘Hello JoJo, darling. This is Elton.’ And I was like: ‘Mom, get the camera out. It’s Elton John.’”
The former Dance Moms star went on to explain that, along with the “Cold Heart” singer, many celebrities gave her the courage to come out.
“To see the way that the world accepted Elton John for who he was, Freddie Mercury for who he was,” she said. “All of those people who came before me in the gay community made me feel like: ‘Oh, it’s going to be OK. Those people are who they are, people know them and people love them.’”
She emphasised how “cool” and “inspiring” John is as he helped her realise that she “can just be who” she is.
Siwa, who is currently dating TikTok star Avery Cyrus, came out as gay in January 2021. There had been initial speculation after she danced and lipsynced to Lady GaGa’s song, “Born This Way” in a TikTok. She later confirmed her sexuality on Twitter by sharing a photo of herself in a t-shirt that reads: “Best. Gay. Cousin. Ever.”
Over the last two years, Siwa has continued to speak out about her sexuality. She even said she was “honoured” to be called “gay icon” during an interview with Yahoo Life! in July and discussed the misconceptions about the queer community.
“You can be queer and be girly,” she said. “I think that’s a thing, is a lot of times lesbians are taken to be masculine. ‘If you’re a lesbian, do you wanna be a boy?’ That’s not the case. There are plenty of very feminine lesbians.”
