CELEBRITY Big Brother's Chris Hughes and JoJo Siwa have broken their silence on their 'relationship' - just two days after she split from her partner.
The pair joined hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard on ITV's This Morning on Monday to discuss their time on the show.
JoJo had been inside the famous reality TV house for 19 days before finishing in third place behind Danny Beard and Jack P Shepherd.
She formed a close bond with Chris during that time, with the pair sharing a number of intimate moments on camera.
And JoJo's partner Kath stunned fans when they revealed on social media on Saturday that JoJo had dumped them at the show after-party.
Kath went on to suggest that her ex "fell in love" with Chris, 32, on the programme.
Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard quizzed the pair on their very close friendship in the house.
Reality star Chris started off by admitting that the show "was tough, but an amazing experience", while JoJo said she "didn't fully know what she was getting herself into" before signing up to the show.
Chris then admitted how he's navigating some of the negative reaction he's had since leaving the house amid his growing friendship with JoJo.
He explained: "You just do deal with it, you kind of have to, you put yourself on a public perspective and you have to allow people to have their opinions on things - I appreciate people to have opinions.
"We just had a great time.
"As I said, it was relentless from the moment you woke up and went to bed."
Chris said it was important to have JoJo's support in the house - branding her his "rock".
The US star admitted she quickly came to the realisation that she wasn't happy with her relationship with Kath while in the house.
JoJo said: "When I went into the house... day one was fun, day two was fun.
"But then honestly on day three, I was now in my own thoughts, away from anyone that I know, away from outside opinions, away from everything.
"I sat with myself with things I was okay with in my life, that I should have never been okay with."
Cat then asked: "Do you mean your relationship?," to which JoJo said: "So many things, that is one of them but so many things."
She continued: "Obviously I wanted to hold that inside and didn't want to air that out very publicly.
"But there were countless things that I was like 'that's not something I should be okay with and I'm not okay with'.
"I was not happy."
JoJo confessed that as soon as she left the house she wanted to call time on their relationship - saying "I was pretending things were great".
"I knew as soon as I got out, I wanted to fix things in my life and make the changes I needed to make," JoJo told the hosts.
"I think you have this experience, it's so exhilarating, it's 20 days but feels like four-and-a-half years and the first thing you want to do when you get out is exactly what you need to do in your life to make it as good as you can.
"I realised just how not great things were and I was pretending they were great.
"It's been hard but it's been good, I'm very happy where I am now."
JoJo then turned to former housemate Chris and praised him for being her biggest support.
She said: "I'm very grateful that I had you in there for support and comfort, even though you didn't know what was going on in my brain, you still obviously are a support."
JoJo then admitted that she did not "intentionally" plan to dump her partner at the wrap party - but said "one thing lead to another".
JoJo said: "I'll be honest, that was not a plan, that was not intention, that was not supposed to happen like that.
"Initially I was told the wrap party was something they didn't want to attend and then about an hour into the wrap party, they decided they wanted to.
"I was genuinely just going to have a conversation before and then it just lead to another.
"They straight up asked me if I was happy and I said 'no', then one thing lead to another and that conversation did take place there."
Speaking about where Chris and JoJo go from here, regarding their "close" friendship, Chris said they have a "really strong bond" - calling it a "soulmate friendship".
Chris said: "Our friendship, it's hard to explain... it's just a really strong bond between two people, it's just a strong friendship.
"I think you can have a soulmate friendship, that's the thing.
"To me, it's that energy when it's not the standard friendship you have with your friends, but it's still a friendship, we are friends.
"It's nice, I found it strange because it was such a strong friendship.
"Having someone in there to go through an experience like that and have someone there everyday when you're emotional, when you're happy... that was beautiful, that was genuinely an amazing thing."
Ben then grilled the pair and asked if it was just "platonic" or if it could develop into something "romantic".
JoJo laughed and said: "He's a gorgeous boy, look, he's a great guy, it is platonic, we have a lot of fun together.
"Life is life and I don't know any future of anything but I'm really grateful for the dynamic that we have and the bond that we have.
"Whatever life does, life will do."
SHOCK SPLIT
The pair raised eyebrows among their fellow housemates and the viewing public over their closeness.
JoJo and Chris spent much time together and enjoyed a close and tactile connection.
They defended their bond during the final Late and Live episode in which Chris insisted it is only natural to spend the most amount of time with the person you feel closest to in the house.
Kath confirmed the end of their's and JoJo's relationship less than 24 hours after JoJo and Chris exited the CBB house.
Taking to Instagram on Saturday afternoon, Australian content creator Kath, said they were in "complete shock" and felt "numbed out and humiliated" after being dumped by JoJo.
They said: "I was told that there are confused feelings there. Do with that what you will.
"And they had realised in the house that I wasn't the person they wanted to spend the foreseeable."
Earlier that day, Kath and JoJo were spotted leaving the same London hotel separately.
After posting a video about their break-up, one fan of Kath's commented on their clip to say: "Imagine watching your partner fall in love with someone else in real time. Cannot even begin to fathom that."
Appearing to confirm that this is exactly how they were feeling, Kath, who identifies as non-binary, liked the comment in question.
It is the most telling sign yet that Kath has been negatively affected by JoJo's bond with Chris.
The hitmaker revealed she was queer and not a lesbian while in CBB.
TRUE FEELINGS
During the Chris' exit interview on Friday, the Love Island star fought back tears as he compared JoJo to his ex-girlfriend.
Chris, who was evicted in sixth place, told hosts AJ Odudu and Will Best that "it's a friendship that's only going to get stronger."
AJ then quizzed Chris on what was really going on with his friendship with Dance Moms star JoJo, 21.
The presenter asked: "Did you ever think you'd be so close with someone in the Big Brother house?"
Chris said: "I know what I'm like as a human being and I know how I bond to people.
"I want to not take life too seriously, when you take life too seriously, you get caught up in all different types of emotions.
"JoJo was a pure rock to me, she was someone I can have fun with and I had fun with her every day.
"That is to me is a beautiful friendship."
Will remarked: "You could tell that you were happy."
Chris continued: "She said something really sweet to me last night, 'you're someone in my life that I didn't know I needed'.
"She reminded me a lot...," Chris then began to tear up and admitted he was "getting emotional".
Fighting back tears, he said: "The thing what fascinated me the most about her was not the stuff that she's done, but what she's come through and what she's gone through as a teenager.
"That's similar to what my ex girlfriend had gone through, kind of seeing how they are both similarly as people.
"She's come through a lot and she's just a pure nice person.
"The similarities are in the person they are and how nice they are, how loving they are, how caring they are.
"From a friendship point of view, of course I love her. I love my boyfriends, when I love people platonic or not I love people."
Chris also addressed his flirty and tactile display with one another.
He explained: "We're just messing around, we're being kids."
INTIMATE MOMENTS
JoJo and Chris enjoyed a number of intimate moments while in the house, including one they shared in bed.
The pair were filmed waking up in the middle of the night to hold hands.
The moment was captured on CBB's late night stream.
It shows Chris and JoJo stretching out to hold each others hand, with the Dance Moms star gently stroking the Love Island hunk's fingers.
In another clip, JoJo was seen slapping Chris' bum as they shared a dance on their penultimate night in the house.
