JoJo Siwa had already amassed an entertainment empire before she turned 18 in May. Celebrating her first Pride just months after coming out, the digital cover star talks to EW about what's next. Check out the photos from our shoot, which features Siwa in her signature rainbow colors and glittery bows.
Siwa was a week away from turning 18 when she chatted with EW, but she has already achieved a dizzying amount of success: A nearly sold-out first headlining tour. A double-platinum anti-bullying track, "Boomerang." More than 80 million hair bows sold. Twelve editions of JoJo's Closet, her Target clothing line. A doll version of her that was more popular than Barbie at Walmart in its first year. A spot on 2020's Time 100 most influential people list. Oh, and she has an audience of millions online.
After she came out in January, Siwa was flooded with messages of support from fans and other celebrities. Though some were shocked, Siwa says looking back, there were "so many signs" that she wasn't straight that people missed.
"I mean, I wore a rainbow on the top of my head almost every day of my life," she says. "And any time I could have anything rainbow, I would get rainbow. June's my favorite month to shop because of all the Pride clothes."
With lead roles in The J Team and Bounce coming down the pike, Siwa is excited to pursue her next goal: movie stardom. The performer, who says acting comes easy to her, is similarly confident about who she is.
"What I'm about is just so real and so natural," Siwa tells EW. "Nothing is made-up, so it's like, I don't have to think about it. Things are just very clear to me."
Though she's now an adult, Siwa and her team insist that she has no plans to alter her colorful, family-friendly persona. "I'm not some bad kid that's putting on this front of being a nice, sweet, innocent girl and then I close my door at night and I'm doing things that bad kids would do," she says.
Having lived in the public eye for half her life, the Dance Moms alum says coming out with her girlfriend, Kylie Prew, has been a highlight. She recalls telling Prew, "'I've shared everything with the world. This is the piece of myself that I have been the happiest with.'"
