ANYONE who has watched an episode of Love Island will know that dating in the modern world is complicated.
From using dating apps to ‘seeing each other’ then going exclusive, to finally being boyfriend and girlfriend, it’s a wonder how anyone gets into a relationship.
But we can reveal that Chris Hughes used a surprising old-fashioned trick to turn his friendship with JoJo Siwa into something more serious.
I was the first journalist to interview Chris about how he'd fallen for JoJo - and he revealed he took inspiration from William Shakespeare to woo her.
The 32-year-old put pen to paper and declared his love in writing.
He told me: “I was confused about how I felt. Then I wasn’t confused anymore. I knew I needed to write it down to explain to her how I was feeling.”
Perhaps it’s because the horse racing commentator previously appeared on the ITV2 dating show Love Island in 2017, finishing third with then-girlfriend Olivia Attwood, that he’d had enough of the confusing modern way of dating - leading him to use more traditional methods to get the girl.
The pair were thrown together while both appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in April.
Having never met before, Chris, who lives in Ascot, formed an immediate bond with the 22-year-old Californian-based dancer.
They both insisted it was purely platonic, especially since bisexual JoJo was in a relationship with Kath Ebbs, who identifies as non-binary.
After she dumped the 27-year-old Australian actor at the Celebrity Big Brother finale party, speculation intensified about how they felt about each other.
Chris and JoJo initially remained coy but after transatlantic trips to see each other, the pair took it up a level.
After much speculation about what was REALLY going on with them, they hard launched as a couple after Chris flew out to Mexico City, then onto Orlando to surprise her for her birthday.
Chris explained: “I went to Florida thinking ‘I really like this person’, but I was slightly confused about the feelings. I had already written her birthday card before I flew over. I took all these presents over for her. They were fun and sentimental gifts rather than anything of monetary value.
“But the night before her birthday, I realised my feelings had changed. I told her: ‘I’ve got to go do something. I’ll be back in half an hour.’
“I went to the hotel reception and borrowed a pen and came back up to the room.
“I took the card and opened it because I had to redo it. I sat in the toilet on my own and I rewrote the card. I knew my feelings had changed, and there was so much more that I needed to say than what I originally put in the birthday card. I wasn’t confused anymore, and I knew what my heart was saying, and I wanted to tell her.”
Since then, the couple, who are having a transatlantic relationship, have been sickeningly loved up and constantly jetting back and forth to spend time with each other.
MADLY IN LOVE
Speaking about falling in love with JoJo, who he calls by her full name Joelle, he said: “Some of the best relationships start as friendships. I look back at the CBB clips and could see how we gravitated towards each other.
"We just wanted to be there for each other in the house. I adored the ground she walked on and the way she handled herself. How can you not love her? But it was as a friend.
“Then, towards the end of the show, I was confused about my feelings for her. And you don’t know what it’s going to be like on the outside. I was saying to myself: ‘Come on, Chris, pull yourself together.’
“We were just friends at that stage, but we were talking all the time. I was missing her, and I felt like I needed to see her, so I flew to Mexico City to surprise her.
"I was so nervous, even though I’d lived with her for three weeks. Then we ended up going to Orlando and I met her family – it was the best three days of my life.
"From the minute I woke up until I went to bed, I was just so happy. It was at that moment something fully ignited inside me.
"I went: ‘God, I really like this person’, and I knew she reciprocated it.”
And despite now being officially boyfriend and girlfriend and sharing constant loved-up snaps together on Instagram, the adorable old school way of communicating continues.
He added: “I like writing her letters. I don’t do it every day. But when we are apart and I miss her, I write to her. I like writing, and I like to see my handwriting. I like sitting there. It gives me something to do. So when I'm at home alone, I'll get my little pad out.”
