JoJo Siwa Explains Why She Went Public With Girlfriend Dakayla Wilson After Wanting to Keep Things Private (Exclusive)

Siwa and Wilson performed together at the premiere of Hulu’s ‘Child Star’ on Thursday, September 14

A change of heart — and an intriguing dance lesson — led JoJo Siwa and Dakayla Wilson to change their stance on keeping their relationship private.

At the premiere of Hulu’s new documentary series Child starwhat marks Demi Lovato’s directorial debut, Siwa, 21, and Wilson spoke candidly with PEOPLE about their decision to go public with their romance.

“Honestly, I’ve been very open about not wanting to be in the public eye,” Siwa says. “And when we got together, it was just — it was literally one day she was teaching a dance class and the girls in the class and the boys in the class were looking at us. And one of them was like, ‘Why are you here, JoJo?’ And I ended up just walking up to her and saying, ‘Yeah, why am I here?'”

Siwa continues: “And I gave her (Wilson) the look of, ‘It’s okay, you can say it,’ and then they filmed that, and so we said, ‘You know what? It’s public. ‘”

“Things change,” Wilson adds.

Related: JoJo Siwa Opens Up About Her Love Life: ‘I Have a Word for It: Messy’ (Exclusive)

Siwa and the So you think you can dance alum went public with their relationship in an Aug. 14 video on Siwa’s Instagram Stories. In the video, Wilson was dancing in front of a mirror during a dance class when she said, “So I have a girlfriend.”

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The former Dancing mothers star then gave her friend a bug hug as the class cheered. “Cats out of the bag 😺,” Siwa captioned the post. Wilson later reposted the video, writing, “surprise shawtyyyyy 😽.”

The couple hasn’t shared how long they’ve been dating, but after confirming their relationship, the “Karma” singer shared a TikTok video of herself dancing. “Friend was teaching dance so I took a weekend off from JoJo Siwa and became her All Star Assistant,” she captioned the video. “❤️‍🔥 @DAKAYLA WILSON broke my body in half for this but it was WORTH it.”

Wilson tells PEOPLE that dancing is one of the couple’s favorite things to do. “We love to dance together,” she says. She also revealed that they enjoy a good game night, while Siwa adds that they enjoy watching movies and TV shows together and ordering in food. “We cook for a reason,” Siwa says.

Related: JoJo Siwa Reveals New Details About Surrogacy Plans: ‘Like Triplets, But Not’

In November 2023, Siwa told PEOPLE that dating had been difficult in the past with her busy schedule. She also revealed that she had trouble balancing romantic relationships with other aspects of her life.

“I’m a lover. I crave that. But it’s okay because I know that in a relationship I prioritize, and sometimes I prioritize a little too much, and I cut out friends, I cut out family, I cut out career and I just focus on relationships,” she said at the time.

In the same interview, Siwa also said that she had taken a year off from dating to focus on herself, but she also noted that she was looking forward to “finding someone she could come home to at night, cuddle with and have a peanut butter and jelly with.”

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Child star premieres September 17 on Hulu.

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Read the original article on People.