JoJo Siwa revealed how a bond with Elton John has helped her throughout her life.
"I remember the first time I ever got to meet Elton was backstage at one of his concerts and I got to talk to him for 45 minutes," JoJo exclusively told E! News Nov. 20 at the Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium concert. "I was only 15 and that conversation changed my life forever."
Another would follow, though. Years later, when the 19-year-old came out in Jan. 2021, Elton called her to share his support. As she recalled, he said, "'Hello JoJo, darling. This is Elton.' And I was like, 'Mom, get the camera out. It's Elton John.'"
He's not the only superstar who inspired her journey.
"To see the way that the world accepted Elton John for who he was, Freddie Mercury for who he was," she explained, "all of those people who came before me in the gay community made me feel like, 'Oh, it's going to be OK. Those people are who they are, people know them and people love them.'"
Needless to say, they taught her how wonderful life is while she's in the world. As she told E!, "I thought that was really cool and inspiring that I can just be who I am."
It's a philosophy she's been sharing on social media, encouraging her followers to live authentically and open like she is with girlfriend Avery Cyrus.
"I like to just share my journey," she previously told E!. "Like with Avery right now. Clearly everybody can see that we're not hiding much, we're happy and we want the world to see that."
"I look at other people that are older than me and I'm like, 'Oh, they did that. So, it's OK if I do that,'" she shared. "I think that's a good place for me to be in because I do only want people to see good."