YouTube star JoJo Siwa 'comes out' as gay after viral 'Born This Way' TikTok

Jojo Siwa, the 17-year-old singer, dancer, actress and YouTube sensation, has reportedly come out as gay after dropping a number of hints on social media. Photo / Getty Images

Jojo Siwa, the 17-year-old singer, dancer, actress and YouTube sensation, has reportedly come out as gay after dropping a number of hints on social media.

On Thursday, Siwa first hinted about her sexuality in a TikTok video posted to her 31 million followers.

In it, she danced to Lady Gaga's 2011 smash hit "Born This Way", which is widely regarded as an LGBTQI anthem.

The singer and dancer, who shot to fame on reality show Dance Mums, mimed the lyrics, "no matter gay, straight, or bi, lesbian, transgender", in the short clip.

Several prominent influencers such as James Charles, Colleen Ballinger and Nikkie de Jager congratulated her and praised her for coming out.

Making moves: JoJo posted a video of her confidently walking around her house to the Ariana Grande song, Step on Up. Photo / YouTube

Days later, Siwa confirmed the news when she shared a photo of herself wearing a shirt that says "Best. Gay. Cousin. Ever."

"My cousin got me a new shirt," she captioned her photo.

My cousin got me a new shirt pic.twitter.com/DuHhgRto7b

— JoJo Siwa!🌈❤️🎀 (@itsjojosiwa) January 22, 2021

Following her news, Siwa was showered in love and support, and was trending on Twitter.

Ellen DeGeneres responded to Siwa with a love heart, while Lil Nas X, who publicly came out in 2019, wrote "if u spell 'swag' backwards, it's 'gay.' coincidence??"

if u spell “swag” backwards, it’s “gay”. coincidence??

— nope (@LilNasX) January 22, 2021

Siwa also dropped a strong hint on Thursday after posting a photo of herself wearing a rainbow Gucci track jacket.

Her post attracted thousands of comments including from musician Luke Eisner, Paris Hilton and other celebrities, who congratulated her.

The singer rose to fan as a young girl when she appeared on the Lifetime reality series "Dance Mums".

In 2017, she signed with Nickelodeon and appeared in the TV movie "Blurt" and "Lip Sync Battle Shorties" and is the youngest contestant ever on Fox's "The Masked Singer".

In September, Siwa was named one of Time's 100 most influential people of the world, in part because of her large online following.