It’s no secret that female artists face an unfair amount of scrutiny when it comes to their looks, and now Jesy Nelson has revealed it was the never-ending comparisons to her bandmates that prompted her shock departure from Little Mix.
Describing it as a ‘breaking point’, Nelson got candid with Cosmopolitan about the mental toll the relentless negative comments about her physical appearance had on her over the years.
“I was bigger than the other three, and there’s never really been that in a girl group,” Nelson told Cosmo.
“I was classed as the obese, fat one. I can’t believe how miserable I was.”
It wasn’t until Jesy was forced to slow down her girl band duties during Covid lockdown that she realised she was no longer happy being a part of the award-winning all-female British act.
“We’d been in lockdown, and [that had been] the first time I could have a break and be at home around people that I love. It was the happiest I’d ever felt, and I didn’t realise that until I went back to work,” Nelson said.
“I immediately became a different person. I had anxiety. Whenever we had a music video, I put an enormous amount of pressure on myself to try and lose weight.
“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.”
The obsession with her physical appearance continued, and with that so did her horrific anxiety.
“I went on this extreme diet, with bloody shakes, and tried to eat as little as possible. On the day of the ‘Sweet Melody’ video I had a panic attack on set because I didn’t look how I wanted to look and I found it so hard to just be happy and enjoy myself,” she said.
Jesy announced that she was officially leaving Little Mix in December of last year, saying that the pressure of being in the group was having a detrimental impact on her mental wellbeing.
“For so long I worried about other people and letting people down,” Jesy said.
“The only person I should have been trying to make happy was myself and I wasn’t doing that.
“I needed to do it for my mental health,” Jesy explained.
Bandmates Perrie Edwards, Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock were supportive of the 29-year-old’s exit and chose to continue Little Mix as a three-piece group.
“We love her very much and agree that it is so important that she does what is right for her mental health and well-being,” they said at the time.
As for what’s next for Jesy, she revealed she’s working on a second documentary, as well as a solo music career – but kept mum on the finer details.
Either way, we’re excited to see what she comes out with next!
Check out Little Mix play ‘She Said What?’ with Don’t Bore Us:
