LITTLE MIX caused a stir during their when Leigh-Anne Pinnock changed a lyric to reference Jesy Nelson’s departure from the group.
Jesy’s relationship with the band has been fraught since her exit, but why did she leave in the first place?
Why did Jesy Nelson leave Little Mix?
Jesy Nelson left Little Mix in 2020, revealing that nine years in the band had taken ‘a toll on her mental health’.
She initially said she was taking an extended break from the band, but just a month later, she left the group for good.
She said at the time: “The truth is, recently being in the band has really taken a toll on my mental health.
“I find the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard.”
She later told Cosmopolitan that anxiety over her weight brought her to breaking point.
She said: “There’s a scene in Sweet Melody I’m not in, because that’s when I had a panic attack and broke down. I was like,”I just want to go home.”
“I was sobbing in the dressing room. Someone really close to me said, “This has got to stop. You can’t keep doing this to yourself. You’re going to end up where you were before.”
She had been a member since they formed on The X Factor in 2011, alongside bandmates Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall.
But her relationship with the other three has been strained since she left.
In October 2021, Jesy confirmed that she and the band were ‘not talking any more’.
Following the release of the video for her first solo single Boyz, Nelson was accused of ‘blackfishing’, or pretending to be black or mixed-race.
The remaining members came out to say they had warned Nelson about the dangers of appropriating black culture while she was still in the group in an interview with Stella Magazine.
Rapper Nicki Minaj, who collaborated with Nelson on the track, fired back, branding Leigh-Anne “jealous”.
2) How many members are in Little Mix?
There are now three members of Little Mix.
They are currently performing shows as part of their long-delayed Confetti Tour.
Leigh-Anne drew scrutiny back to their relationship with Jesy when she changed her lyrics to their track, Gloves Up, to remove reference to their having been a four-piece.
