As the handsome son of Gloucestershire farmers who grew up in a rural environment where girlfriends could be hard to come by, Chris Hughes didn’t want to have to move to a city to give himself a chance of meeting his dream woman.

So in 2017 he applied to appear on ITV2 dating show Love Island. There, he linked up with a blonde model called Olivia Attwood and the pair not only reached the final but earned themselves a spin-off TV show.

Their relationship fizzled out after 18 months but, seven years later, Chris found himself another girlfriend on a reality programme – this time Celebrity Big Brother.

As everyone in tune with the zeitgeist knows, the woman in question is American celebrity JoJo Siwa, a singer, dancer and social media star from America’s Midwest, who rose to fame on US reality show Dance Moms.

They are undeniably one of the most unlikely couples that the showbusiness world has seen in a while. And now, less than two months after they met, friends of Chris say they are expecting him to pop the question to JoJo, who leveraged her fame to create a multi-million-pound hair-bow range.

‘Chris is smitten,’ says one. ‘He can’t believe his luck. He and JoJo have got the most lovely thing going on here. It came from nowhere but they are so in love already – it has happened so quickly.

‘Anyone who knows Chris says that they can see him popping the question at any moment – it has been a whirlwind, a fairytale. The love is real and it is wonderful for anyone who knows Chris to see. She is besotted, too, things are moving very fast.’

JoJo, 22, and Chris, 32, initially formed a strong bond during their time in the Celebrity Big Brother house. but a romance appeared unlikely as JoJo was in a relationship with the non-binary actress Kath Ebbs.

JoJo Siwa and Chris Hughes are undeniably one of the most unlikely couples that the showbusiness world has seen in a while

But the couple broke up at the show’s wrap party and, in a world exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday’s You magazine last month, JoJo explained how she felt forced to say she was a lesbian by ex-partners and the LGBTQ community. ‘The truth is,’ she added, ‘sexuality is fluid.’

Regardless of adjectives, JoJo and Chris have almost overnight become one of the most sought-after couples in showbusiness in both the UK and the US.

Sources tell me that ITV would very much like to sign the pair for their own show, similar to the fly-on-the-wall documentary that Chris did with Olivia – Chris And Olivia: Crackin’ On – back in 2017. Meanwhile, there are channels in America which are interested in them, too.

‘Chris is the handsome British guy, and that can be telly gold in the States,’ says one TV source.

Then there are the endorsement deals which could straddle both sides of the Atlantic, as their relationship has hugely increased their profiles.

‘When two people get together like this they can make an absolute fortune,’ says one brand expert. ‘JoJo is already a massive brand and well known in the UK, too, but with a fit British bloke on her arm who is also famous, they will make a killing.’

JoJo was born Joelle Joanie Siwa on May 19, 2003, in Omaha, Nebraska, where she grew up with mother Jessalynn, a dance teacher, and her chiropractor father, Tom.

In 2013, when JoJo was nine, Jessalynn signed her up for Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition, a spin-off of the reality show Dance Moms. She made such a good impression she was asked to join the main programme, a move that meant relocating with Jessalynn to California.

Dance Moms followed young dancers training under Abby Lee Miller, a now 59-year-old choreographer who spent most of the episodes shouting at the children for not remembering routines.

JoJo and Chris have almost overnight become one of the most sought-after couples in showbusiness in both the UK and the US following their stint on Celebrity Big Brother

In 2017, after two years of the show, and still aged just 13, JoJo was signed by the children’s TV network Nickelodeon. This is when she became truly famous. She made TV shows and films, released songs and music videos, and – at 15 – embarked on a 132-show world tour. At the age of 16, JoJo became the youngest person to sell out London’s O2 Arena.

Walmart, Amazon and Claire’s sold JoJo Siwa dolls, backpacks, shoes, hoodies and hairbrushes. There was slime, glitter, stickers and – most importantly – bows.

She was known for wearing an outsized bow on her head and the product was her bestseller. JoJo bows started at £3, came in 6,000 varieties and were so popular in the UK that several British schools banned pupils from wearing them on the grounds they breached uniform policies.

Today, she is said to be worth around £15 million and recently sold her six-bedroom, seven-bathroom Los Angeles mansion in Tarzana for just under £4million – five years after buying it in 2019 for £3million when she was just 18.

Chris, meanwhile, is said to be very much the poorer party and is thought to be worth a million or two after briefly embarking on a music career alongside Love Island co-star Kem Cetinay as the duo Chris & Kem.

The financial gulf between the two of them has led some social media trolls to suggest Chris is using JoJo for her global fame. Others criticise the ten-year age gap between the pair.

I set out to discover if that is the case, but I failed to find one person across the showbusiness industry who had a bad word to say about Chris.

The pair cope as well as they can with the long-distance relationship, sources tell KATIE HIND, but desperately miss each other when they’re apart

‘Chris is literally the nicest man you could meet,’ said one associate of his. ‘He’s great to have a pint with but he’s also lovely to women. There are a lot of idiots that have come through the Love Island process, but Chris is one of the good ones.’

It’s no surprise, then, that JoJo has been spending increasing amounts of time in the UK, more specifically at Chris’s home in Surrey, where they are seen zooming around in his £100,000 Maserati as they enjoy blissful days in the British sunshine together.

But, sadly for the pair, this is where the problem with their romance lies: in the 5,000 miles between their home countries.

I’m told they’re coping as well as they can with the long-distance relationship but desperately miss each other when they’re apart.

‘This is the problem when they get an American to take part in a British reality show,’ said a source close to the pair. ‘People get together but they live so far from one another and it is hard.

‘There is a bit of a dilemma here. Does Chris move to the States or does JoJo come here? They know they are going to have to make a decision at some point because the thought of being apart from one another for too long is terrifying for them.’

Chances are, I’m told, it will be JoJo who will uproot her life in the Hollywood Hills. She has fallen in love with the British countryside. And, if that happens, this extraordinary relationship might just be for keeps.