Aimee Walker
Jesy Nelson has revealed the ‘breaking point’ moment that led to her leaving Little Mix.
In an interview with Cosmopolitan magazine, the 29-year-old said she ultimately decided to leave the band after recording the ‘Sweet Melody’ music video.
She admitted: “I had anxiety. Whenever we had a music video, I put an enormous amount of pressure on myself to try and lose weight.
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“I have a fear of looking back on the camera. If I don’t like what I see, I find it so hard to be in front of the camera and feel amazing and perform.”
Jesy said that when she received the call confirming when the music video would be shot, she began to panic and went on an extreme diet which consisted of ‘shakes’. The star then came to the realisation that this wasn’t healthy.
Reflecting on her time since leaving the band, she said: “I don’t wake up with anxiety, thinking, ‘I’ve got to do a music video today, I need to starve myself.’ Or, “I need to go on an extreme diet so I can look like the other three.’ That was consuming me.
“I didn’t know that I could be this happy. I thought when I was in the group that it was just normal to feel that way. And because I’d felt like that for 10 years, I just thought, ‘This is life.’ Since I’ve left, I feel free.”
Jesy added that she would constantly be compared to Jade Thirlwall, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Perrie Edwards throughout her time in the group.
“Even recently, I was still getting compared to them. It’s horrible when you already don’t like something about yourself to then have thousands of people point it out,” she admitted.
“I was bigger than the other three, and there’s never really been that in a girl group. I was classed as the obese, fat one.”
In December last year, Jesy confirmed she was leaving Little Mix – which she had been a member of since 2011 – due to mental health reasons.
The singer has recently revealed she’s working on solo music after sharing snaps of herself at a recording studio.
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