English singer Jesy Nelson was part of the girl group Little Mix for nine years alongside Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, and Perrie Edwards, until her departure in December 2020. The quartet was originally formed on the set of the British reality show, The X Factor, in 2011.
While initially Nelson cited mental health issues as the reason behind her step back and remained in amicable terms with her bandmates, she later beefed with the trio after they accused her of “blackfishing” in her 2021 single, Boyz, featuring rapper Nicki Minaj.
Now, during her appearance on Jamie Laing’s podcast, Perrie Edwards, 32, called Nelson “difficult” and noted there was no future where she and Jesy could rekindle their friendship.
While Jesy, 34, has yet to respond, her sister Jade Nelson took to Instagram and declared that she was tired of the “lies and accusations” her sibling has been receiving over the years.
“People say in life be the bigger person, keep quiet, but actually, sometimes it doesn’t do any good. I’ve watched my sister go through hell and back for many, many years, and very few will only ever understand what it’s like to be tormented, bullied and pulled down for the way you look. It’s really easy to say just ignore it, but until you are in that situation yourself, you will never ever really know how it will affect them.”
Jade Nelson continued:
“But I think when you attempt to end your life not once, but twice, it shows the dark place you must be in, and YES, that was with a lack of support many, many times.”
She was seemingly referring to Jesy Nelson’s suicide attempt twice, when she was struggling with her mental health. Jade explained:
“As for not taking accountability, that is actually all she’s done, she’s fully aware she was hard work, she’s fully aware she was hard to deal with, but through it all, if any other single person were struggling with a break-up, anxiety, life, she was there! Isn’t that what you do as friends or if you love someone?”
Exploring further Jesy Nelson’s fallout with Little Mix
In 2020, Jesy Nelson couldn’t join her bandmates during the final of their television series, Little Mix: The Search, nor could she co-host the MTV Europe Music Awards with Pinnock, Edwards, and Thirlwall.
In November of that year, their publicist announced Nelson was taking an extended hiatus to focus on her health. In mid-December, she announced her exit from the group due to deteriorating mental health, while others declared they would continue as a trio.
Things started to go south in October 2021 when reports emerged her former bandmates unfollowed Jesy Nelson on social media, following the release of her song, Boyz. However, it was later revealed that Nelson herself blocked them.
Meanwhile, fans of Little Mix began slamming Nelson for seemingly blackfishing, i.e. when a non-Black individual pretends to be Black or mixed race. They claimed it was a shade at Leigh-Anne Pinnock, who, in fact, was mixed race. Alleged private DMs between Jesy and Leigh-Anne were also leaked online, with the latter accusing the former of the same.
In the wake of the controversy, Jesy Nelson took to Instagram and stated:
“My intention is never to offend people of color with this video and my song.”
However, Jesy Nelson later appeared in an IG Live with her collaborator Nicki Minaj to promote their single. During the livestream, Nicki not only defended Jesy but also called Leigh-Anne a “f**king clown,” who she claimed was “jealous” of Nelson’s solo career and success.
Fans took issue with Minaj’s remarks, with many calling out Nelson for not stepping in when the former spoke harshly about Pinnock. Instead, Jesy doubled down on his clarification:
“My intention was never, ever, ever to offend anyone, and genuinely, it actually does really hurt me that I may have offended people and hurt people’s feelings just by genuinely celebrating something that I love.”
Jesy Nelson also claimed that none of her ex-bandmates ever spoke about blackfishing before until the last music video she filmed with them for Little Mix, titled Sweet Melody.
Ever since the whole Boyz drama, the equation between Nelson and the girl group has been contentious, although they, too, have been on an indefinite hiatus since 2022. This also led to a 2023 BBC documentary, Jesy Nelson: Odd One Out, which chronicled her side of the story.
Following its release, Jesy Nelson told The Sun:
“For me, my mental health issues were an ongoing thing while I was in Little Mix. I was struggling with my body issues, I was constantly being trolled – and I really, really struggled with it. I don’t have any regrets because I had to do what was right for me and I will always cherish the memories I had in Little Mix. So no, we haven’t talked since then. Never say never, but I honestly wish them the best on their solo journeys now, which is so exciting.”
In July 2024, Perrie Edwards sat down with Cosmopolitan and spoke about her “heartbreak” after Jesy Nelson left the group:
“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.”
However, Edwards fondly recalled the time she spent with Nelson, calling it “the happiest time of my life.”
“All we did was laugh together, banter together, cry together. It was so much fun. Yes, we went through a lot in those 10 years, but we had each other,” she added.
In the same interview, Perrie spoke about her best memory during a late-night out, followed by an appearance on Sunday Brunch:
“Our glam could sometimes take four hours, so our call time was 4am or 5am. I remember Jesy and I were having the best night, and kept saying, ‘We really should be getting home now.’ It was just so fun. We ended up rocking up to Sunday Brunch after a McDonald’s and we were still drunk. We were giddy and delirious.”
In a May 2026 interview with Attitude Magazine, Perrie Edwards said she was ready to get the band back together:
“I’m ready and raring. We always message each other and are bantering like, ‘So how long until we do a reunion? Are we going to do one? Where is it?’ I’m like, just give me a ballpark time. Do you know what I mean? Just let me know when.”
However, Edwards clarified it was “definitely” going to be a “three” and not a quartet.
During her latest chat with Jamie Laing, Perrie Edwards said watching Jesy Nelson’s Amazon Prime tell-all six-part docuseries, Life After Little Mix, made her realize she no longer wanted to be with “somebody like that.” She was perhaps referring to Jesy’s claim that another member wanted to leave the band before her.
“If I’m being completely transparent, part of me wanted to until the documentary. And then part of me withdrew again. I’m not a horrible person. I haven’t got a bad one in my body, but I can cut you off.”
Perrie continued:
“There’s personal things, there’s public things, there’s everything. I don’t have the capacity for somebody like that in my life anymore. And that might make me sound like a bitch, but I just don’t have the energy for it. And as much as I will always love her, I don’t think I can hack that energy in my space.”
However, Edwards said she was “devastated” for Nelson when she heard her twin daughters were diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1. She mentioned that they’d always have a “weird connection” with Jesy, and seeing her go through the girls’ medical issues, “broke” her.
“Because you wouldn’t wish that on anyone. It’s literally wild. And as much as we’ve got our issues and, you know, I think I don’t want to see her go through that.”
Leigh-Anne Pinnock also described her former bandmate as “really brave” and said earlier this year that she, Edwards, and Thirlwall had “reached out” to her.
For the unaware, Jesy Nelson welcomed twins, Ocean Jade and Story Monroe, prematurely at 31 weeks in May 2025, with her ex-fiancé and rapper, Zion Foster. After spending nearly a month in neonatal care, the newborns were discharged and taken home.
In January 2026, she announced the twins’ SMA Type 1 diagnosis, following which reports of her breakup with Foster also emerged.
Following Perrie Edwards’ recent comments about Jesy Nelson, particularly about her documentary, Jade Nelson wrote on Instagram:
“So yes, we may learn lots from our therapists, but would a therapist ever say there are only so many times you can pick someone up. It’s ok to be spoken about in interviews and songs, but the minute she tells her truth, finally, it’s funny that people don’t seem to like it.”
Jesy Nelson’s sister added:
“It’s always a shock when someone finally stands up for themselves, maybe that’s why we get angry and swear, as we can’t believe it. But let me tell you something, there is always so so much more someone could have said.”
In her recent Prime Video documentary, Jesy Nelson said:
“Whoever leaves first is always the person who gets the most sh*t. I’ve never been able to say — it was never actually my decision to leave first. Like, I actually didn’t want any of this to happen. This is my story of how it went.”
She revealed in 2019, they called a meeting and one of the girls said they were leaving the group. However, that never happened. Jesy Nelson didn’t name the person and said it was not for her to reveal.
The mother of two noted the news left her “devastated” as she was already struggling mentally, and she regrets not supporting the individual who had decided to leave.
What finally led her to quit instead was planning for a “final tour,” dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, trying to keep up with the “crazy” work schedule, weight loss struggle, shifting dynamics and strained relationships within Little Mix. In fact, she claimed nobody seemed to care when she announced her decision to exit, making her feel “alone,” and ultimately pushing her to go on with the split.
Edited by Pallavi K