Feb. 4 (UPI) -- JoJo Siwa shared the story behind her coming out during an appearance on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon.
The 17-year-old dancer and YouTube personality spoke to Jimmy Fallon on the NBC late-night show Wednesday after coming out as gay in January.
On Jan. 20, Siwa hinted at her coming out in a TikTok video of her dancing to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" before posting a photo Jan. 22 of herself wearing a shirt reading "Best. Gay. Cousin. Ever."
"My cousin got me a new shirt," the caption reads.
On The Tonight Show, Siwa said support she received after her coming out was "the most insane thing ever."
"I mean, literally everyone and their brother messaged me, texted me, called me, sent me an Instagram message, tweeted me," the star said. "It was the most love I think I've ever received, and the coolest thing about it was it was just by me showing the world the last little piece of me that they haven't seen yet. It was really awesome."
Siwa said she was creating TikTok videos with the Pride House group when she realized her TikTok to "Ain't It Fun" might publicly out her.
"And I was like, 'I don't really mind, because it is true. I do have the most amazing, wonderful, perfect, most beautiful girlfriend in the whole world. It's not something I'm ashamed of, I just haven't shown the Internet yet,'" she said.
Siwa said she was FaceTiming with her girlfriend after sharing the "Born This Way" video when her girlfriend encouraged her to post the "Best. Gay. Cousin. Ever." photo and officially come out.
"She was super encouraging. She was like, 'Do it!' I was like, 'Alright!' And I did it," Siwa said.
Siwa said she was on the phone with her girlfriend, with whom she is in a long-distance relationship, prior to her Tonight Show interview.
"I started crying. She's like, 'What's wrong with you?' I was like, 'I'm just so happy, because now I get to share what makes me the happiest in the world, and it makes my heart so happy," she said.
On The Tonight Show, Siwa also played a game of Dance Battle where she and Fallon made up random dances.
Siwa came to fame on the Lifetime reality series Dance Moms. She has over 12 million subscribers on YouTube and over 11 million followers on Instagram and Twitter.
