With Little Mix she became a household name, scoring number one hits, winning awards and touring the world as one of the most successful pop acts to emerge from The X Factor.
But despite the sisterly bond she formed with her bandmates, Jesy Nelson says they were more like strangers after she abruptly quit the band following a secret suicide attempt in 2020.
Nelson, 34, reflected on the painful decision to leave the group and her final interaction with remaining band-members Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall in new warts-and-all Amazon Prime documentary series, Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix.
‘Before I had a discussion with the girls I had to think about where I am legally – like, can I even come out of it now?’ she recalled.
‘Unfortunately, the lawyer ended up letting them know that I wanted to leave, before I could let them know, so I think they felt really hurt by that, and it should never have played out like that.
‘I feel mad that that was taken away from me, and I didn’t get an opportunity to explain why I couldn’t do this anymore.’
Jesy Nelson has reflected on her final interaction with remaining Little Mix band-members Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall in her new Amazon Prime series
With Little Mix she became a household name, scoring number one hits, winning awards and touring the world as one of the most successful pop acts to emerge from The X Factor
At the time of her overdose, Nelson was scheduled to appear in the final of Little Mix’s BBC talent show The Search, with her absence prompting host Chris Ramsey to explain that she had ‘fallen ill.’
And the singer says her lawyer’s decision to confirm her departure without prior permission drove a wedge between her and the band.
She added: ‘Mentally, I’d got myself ready and I was like, “Right , I want to sit down with the girls now and I want to chat to them and tell them why I did what I did, and how I’ve been feeling, and just really explain to them, and try to make them understand how I was feeling.”
‘And then my manager called, and she was like, “So, I’ve spoken to the girls, and they are happy to chat with you, but they don’t feel comfortable being in a room with you unless there’s a therapist there.”
‘I was like, “What? I’ve just come out of hospital, this is the time I need you the most.” I didn’t feel like they were my sisters. It’s been five years now; everytime I think about it I’m like, “Was it them, or was it the management?” I will never know that because we never got to have that conversation.
‘And then eventually there was a phone call, and it was really awkward. It was just so weird because it was like talking to strangers.
‘It was the most uncomfortable phone call I’ve ever had, no one knew what to say, and that was the last time I ever spoke to them as a group.’
Despite the stilted farewell, mother-of-two Nelson says parenthood – both Edwards and Pinnock have also welcomed children – helped bring them back together as friends.
Despite the sisterly bond she formed with her bandmates, Jesy Nelson says they were more like strangers after she abruptly quit the band following a secret suicide attempt in 2020
Despite the stilted farewell, mother-of-two Nelson says parenthood – both Edwards and Pinnock have also welcomed children – helped bring them back together as friends
She replied: ‘I really don’t know. I see both sides. I see why they would be sad and hurt. They reached out to me when I was pregnant, it was lovely because I never thought that would happen.
‘It made me really emotional. We’re grown women now, we’ve got kids, and I just think there are so many more important things in life.
‘It’s just one of those things that need to be put to bed now.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Little Mix’s Perrie, Leigh-Anne and Jade’s representatives for comment.
