Jesy Nelson announced yesterday [14 December 2020] that she was leaving Little Mix after nine years. And while fans worldwide were completely devastated by the news, it goes without saying that the 29-year-old must do what's best for her mental and physical health, and put herself first.
In those nine years, Little Mix as a foursome - Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall and Jesy Nelson - have achieved a monumental amount. Let's look back at a timeline of some of their standout moments up until this point.
2011: Jesy Nelson, Jade Thirlwall, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Perrie Edwards audition as solo artists for the X Factor
It's hard to believe that Little Mix weren't always a girl group powerhouse. Not only did they all audition separately, in fact, they also received some pretty questionable feedback along the way. After Jesy's rendition of Jasmine Sullivan's 'Bust Your Windows', Gary Barlow accused her performance of lacking "individuality" and being "generic." Excuse you, Gary.
20th November 2011: Jesy Nelson wins the X Factor as part of Little Mix
And yet, having blown away the judges (not to mention millions of viewers) week after week, Little Mix make history as the first girl group to ever win the X Factor. YES.
18th December 2011: Little Mix get their first UK No.1 with ‘Cannonball’
Little Mix's version of Damien Rice's 'Cannonball' is an instant hit, selling over 210,000 copies in its first week. It was Ireland's Christmas No.1 and remained at the top of the charts for four weeks.
28th March 2016: Little Mix talk heartbreak and body-shaming with Cosmopolitan UK
In their first cover interview for Cosmopolitan UK, Little Mix discuss what really goes on behind-the-scenes of a chart-topping girl band. Jesy reflects on the online trolling that caused her to doubt herself while appearing on the X Factor: "It used to make me cry," she said. "I was shocked at the time. I was a young girl and I thought, 'What have I done to you? Why do you have to be mean to me? I'm not a nasty person and I took it to heart. Some of the things people said were disgusting. It really affected me."
1st April 2016: Jesy breaks down while performing in Dublin
During Little Mix's 'Get Weird' tour, Jesy breaks down in tears while introducing one of their songs. She addressed the Dublin crowd, saying "If you're ever feeling really crap about yourself or not feeling confident, this is exactly why we wrote this song.." As Jesy's voice began to wobble, her bandmates huddled around her and gave her a hug. The crowd also cheered their support for Jesy, showing just how loved she is by the Little Mix fanbase.
22nd February 2017: Little Mix win their first Brit award: Best British Single for ‘Shout Out to My Ex’
After being nominated the previous year for 'Black Magic', Little Mix win their first Brit Award for Best British Single with 'Shout Out to My Ex'. In their acceptance speech, Jade said "if it wasn't for (Little Mix's) friendship, we wouldn't still be going."
14th November 2018: Little Mix promote new single ‘Strip’ by posing naked covered in trolls' comments
Little Mix reclaimed slurs hurled at them by trolls such as 'fat', 'ugly', and 'slutty,' posing naked with the remarks written on their skin. They captioned the post 'Take off all my makeup cos I love what’s under it, Rub off all your words don’t give a f**k I’m over it, Jiggle all this weight, yeah you know I love all of this. Finally love me naked. Sexiest when I’m confident.'
12th September 2019: Jesy’s documentary, Odd One Out, airs on BBC One
In her documentary, Odd One Out, Jesy opens up about the toll that constant trolling about her appearance had taken on her mental health. She revealed that at one point she was so affected that she attempted suicide. "I just remember thinking this is never going to go. I’m going to constantly wake up and feel sad for the rest of my life. So what is the point in being here? I physically couldn’t tolerate the pain any more."
The documentary quickly became BBC Three's most-watched factual title since it moved online in 2016.
18th September 2019: Leigh-Anne, Perrie and Jade support Jesy as she breaks down while performing ‘The Cure’ in Milan.
After the runaway success of Jesy's documentary, Odd One Out, she got emotional during a Little Mix performance in Milan. The girls were singing 'The Cure', a song said to resonate strongly with Jesy, when she appeared to get teary during the lyrics "I was a little bit hurt, but I'm not anymore. I was a little left out, but I'm not anymore." Luckily, her bandmates were there to support her, holding her hand and comforting her all the way.
7th November 2019: Little Mix collab with Pretty Little Thing drops online
Having conquered the charts and built a legendary fanbase of Little Mix-ers, Little Mix show off their versatility with a range for PLT. Not only did the range serve 90s realness, it was also super inclusive with sizes from 4-26.
Jesy further cements herself as queen of our hearts by saying: "That’s the message that we stand for. It’s important for people to be able to buy clothes no matter what size they are, and feel good and confident. So yeah, that’s always been a big part of why we always wanted to work with PLT because of the size range. There’s just not enough representation at all so a range to just accommodate everyone is amazing."
28th January 2020: Jesy Nelson wins National Television Award for Odd One Out
After picking up the 'Best Factual Entertainment' award at the NTAs, Jesy gave an emotional speech saying, "I'm so grateful that such a negative experience in my life turned into such a positive one." She also thanked those who featured in her powerful documentary, saying "I want to thank every single person [who] was in the documentary for being so brave and courageous to tell their own story to the world."
23rd March 2020: Little Mix get candid with Cosmopolitan UK for their second cover interview
Little Mix reflect on how much has changed since they last spoke to Cosmo in 2016. Jesy is fresh from winning an NTA for her documentary, Odd One Out, saying that the positive response to it has "absolutely" helped to boost her confidence. She says "Honestly, I didn’t like one thing about myself. I will never lie and say I absolutely love myself now. There are still things I’m working on. [But] I am 100% better than I was before."
26th September 2020: Little Mix: The Search airs on BBC One
Little Mix come full circle by creating a talent show of their own, Little Mix: The Search, to create the next big music group. Fans are delighted by all the cute friendship moments between the gang.
14th December 2020: Jesy Nelson announces she is leaving Little Mix to focus on her mental health
After taking an extended break from Little Mix, Jesy confirms that she is leaving the group for good. She wrote on Instagram:
"To all my Mixers, the past nine years in Little Mix has been the most incredible time of my life. We have achieved things I never thought possible. From winning our first Brit Award to our sold out shows at the O2. Making friends and fans all over the world, I can't thank you all enough from the bottom of my heart for making me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. You have always been there to support and encourage me and I will never forget it."
Whatever Jesy decides to do next, we wish her all the luck in the world.
Cosmopolitan UK's December/January issue is out now and you can SUBSCRIBE HERE.
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