In 2020, Little Mix shocked everyone by announcing Jesy Nelson was no longer a member of the band.
At the time it sounded like Jesy and the girls were all in support of the decision as it was best for her mental health.
But very quickly things between them turned sour. Suddenly there were public fallouts, unfollowings and a lot of backlash. And, five years on, it seems time never helped them reconnect.
Jesy has just announced she is expecting twins with on/off boyfriend Zion Foster. And, although even one of her ex-boyfriends congratulated her, it seems the Little Mix girls are staying silent, in public at least.
So let’s have a look back at just what went down between Little Mix and Jesy.
December 2020: Jesy leaves Little Mix
Fans had noticed Jesy was appearing less with the other girls. Then her departure was announced. At the time, Jesy explained she was leaving Little Mix to focus on her mental health.
It was 10 years of my life that I was very unhappy with.
Looking back on the backlash the decision received from the public, Jesy revealed on the Reign With Josh Smith podcast in 2021 that it affected her at the beginning.
She said: “But I don’t care any more. It was 10 years of my life that I was very unhappy with. And I needed to take myself out of that and genuinely do what’s going to make me happy.”
October 2021: Boyz release, Nicki Minaj steps in and Jesy apologises
Less than a year later, Jesy was releasing her first solo single Boyz. And as soon as she did, fans were quick to accuse her of ‘blackfishing’. The claims are also what fully brought the Little Mix feud into the public eye.
A TikTok user shared alleged direct messages with Leigh-Anne Pinnock where she allegedly called Jesy a “horrible person”, along with agreeing with the ‘blackfishing’ claims. One is said to have read: “She blocked us. Cut us off. Horrible person.”
However, there was no proof that the messages were authentic.
Little Mix has never commented on the messages. But Jade admitted the band did have discussions with Jesy about blackfishing before her shock exit. She told The Telegraph at the time: “One thing we will clarify regarding the blackfishing situation is that Jesy was approached by the group in a very friendly, educational manner.”
But after the screenshots went viral, Jesy and Nicki hosted an Instagram Live to discuss their collaboration.
The topic took a turn, though, as Nicki addressed the social media backlash. She went on a very heated rant and, while she never referred to the girls by name, fans were quick to make the connection.
They weren’t impressed with how Jesy didn’t defend bandmate Leigh-Anne, who was pregnant with twins at the time (Jesy also didn’t publicly offer Leigh-Anne her congratulations). She did, however, apologise to those who may have been offended by her actions.
She told Nicki that her “intention was never ever to offend people of colour” and that she was “hurt” by the thought of offending someone.
Leigh-Anne’s speech and social media unfollowing
In the same month, after the Instagram Live, Leigh-Anne seemed to acknowledge the drama at her 30th birthday bash.
According to a video, obtained by The Mirror, Leigh-Anne said to guests: “I’m 30 years old. I know my character. You know my character. Anyone that meets me knows my [bleep]ing character. That’s all I care about.”
We haven’t talked since then. Never say never. But I honestly wish them the best.
Around the same time, all current members of Little Mix appeared to take Leigh-Anne’s side publicly by unfollowing Jesy on social media. Jesy also unfollowed them. Five years later, and none of them have re-followed each other.
Little Mix refuse to ‘dwell’ on the past as Jesy addresses ‘bad blood’
October 2021 also saw Jesy admit: “It is weird because for so many years we were as close as sisters, together every hour of the day for weeks, sharing beds, laughing, crying just 24/7 the four of us together and then … Nothing.”
Jesy also told Graham Norton that there was “no bad blood” from her side when she appeared on his show that same month.
Leigh-Anne also expressed her desire to leave the past in the past in the autumn of 2021. She told The Telegraph the girl group didn’t “really want to dwell” on the past “because we have so much to celebrate as a three”.
April 2023: Jesy breaks silence on ‘feud’
Jesy opened up to The Sun for the first time about all of the Little Mix drama. During the interview, she explained she needed to leave the band because she was “struggling with body issues” while “constantly being trolled”.
She admitted she doesn’t “have any regrets” but that she will “always cherish the memories” she got from being in Little Mix.
However, in the same interview she confirmed she had not spoken to any of the other girls since leaving. Jesy said: “We haven’t talked since then. Never say never. But I honestly wish them the best.”
October 2023: Leigh-Anne’s memoir
In her biography, Believe, Leigh-Anne revealed that Jesy’s exit from the band left the others “traumatised”.
She wrote: “It was a complex and painful thing to come to terms with. We all felt it. The pain and sadness. It felt like a weird break-up and I wasn’t prepared for it. The whole thing was abrupt and sad. Then it was messy, which made it more painful.”
It was Jesy’s exit that made the three others go into therapy together, something which greatly helped them.
“We were a family, the four of us were like sisters, and we had been that way since we were teenagers, so it’s not an over-exaggeration to say that losing a member was a traumatic experience,” she wrote.
July 2024: Perrie opens up
Perrie had remained silent about Little Mix and Jesy’s fall-out until last year. Speaking to Cosmopolitan, she addressed how difficult the situation was for her.
It seems for Perrie, she was willing to try to repair her relationship with Jesy, but things didn’t work out.
She said: “We don’t talk and haven’t done for a long time. It’s really sad. It’s heartbreaking. But sometimes these things happen and people decide they want to part ways. And that’s absolutely fine. I would rather it went differently, but you can’t control how things go.”
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