Little Mix’s Jesy Nelson Announces She’s Taking Extended Time Off From Group For ‘Medical Reasons’
Is Jesy Nelson OK?! That seems to be the question on everyone’s minds after the Little Mix member announced that
Lillie Gissen
Is Jesy Nelson OK?! That seems to be the question on everyone’s minds after the Little Mix member announced that she was taking “extended time off” from the girl group due to “medical reasons.”
“Jesy is having extended time off from Little Mix for private medical reasons. We will not be issuing any further comment currently and ask media to please respect her privacy at this time,” her publicist wrote on Twitter on November 17, 2020.
Little Mix Statement:
— Simon Jones (@simonjonespr) November 17, 2020
Jesy is having extended time off from Little Mix for private medical reasons. We will not be issuing any further comment currently and ask media to please respect her privacy at this time.
As fans know, the singer has missed a bunch of the band’s — which is also made up of Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards and Leigh-Anne Pinnock — recent appearances. She was absent from the live finale of their BBC talent series Little Mix The Search that aired on November 7, and she was also M.I.A. from the MTV Europe Music Awards the following day. At the time, her rep said in a statement, “Jesy is unwell and will not be appearing on tonight’s final of Little Mix The Search. She will also not be hosting or performing at tomorrow’s MTV EMAs.” Nelson has not posted anything on social media since October 31, 2020.
Little Mix Has Had A Busy Few Months
For those who don’t know, it’s been a very busy few months for the musicians. They dropped their sixth studio album, Confetti, on November 6, 2020, and it was full of bops! It debuted at Number 2 on the U.K. Albums chart and at 85 on the Billboard 200 in the U.S. But that’s not all. As we mentioned before, they also launched their own competition show, and get this — they’re currently gearing up for their brand new concert movie, LM5: The Tour Film, to hit theaters. It comes out on November 21, 2020, and it was recorded at the final show of the tour at London’s iconic 02 Arena.
“Performing live is our absolute favorite thing to do, our LM5 Tour was absolutely amazing and we are so proud of it,” Edwards said while promoting the film. Pinnock added, “We enjoyed every second of the LM5 Tour and hope you all love this specially filmed performance capturing all the magic of that show.”
Jesy Nelson Has A History With Mental Illness
In her 2019 BBC Three documentary, Jesy Nelson: Odd One Out, Nelson got real about her past struggles, and she admitted that she tried to commit suicide in 2013. The 29-year-old explained that when she first joined the band in 2011, she received a lot of hate online and it effected her mental health.
“I had about 101 Facebook messages in my inbox, and the first one that came up was from some random man, saying, ‘You are the ugliest thing I’ve seen in my life, you do not deserve to be in this girl band. You deserve to die.’ It became the worst time of my life,” she recalled. “I wasn’t just known as one of the singers in Little Mix, I was known as ‘the fat, ugly one.”
Then, in 2013 she really spiraled out of control. Nelson continued, “I’d lost quite a bit of weight, and we were going back on X Factor to perform our new single. All I cared about was people seeing me and saying ‘Oh, she looks good.’ I starved myself for a week. I thought, ‘I could be the skinniest girl in the world, and this is never going to go away.’ That was the point I got severely depressed. I was sat in bed crying, thinking, ‘This is never going to go, I’m going to feel sad for the rest of my life, so what is the point in being here?’ The only way I can describe the pain is like constantly being heartbroken. I remember going to the kitchen, and I just took as many tablets as I could. Then my ex, who was with me at the time, he woke up and was like, ‘Why are you crying?’ I kept saying, ‘I just want to die.’”
But the star insisted at the time that she was doing a lot better.
“Back then I just thought everyone hated me,” she said. “But no, actually, they’re doing it because they feel bad about themselves. So now when I look at trolls being nasty, I feel a bit sorry for them. The only way I can understand it is that being nasty makes them feel better in themselves. I didn’t have the mindset to think like that back then – I wish I did. I’m a completely different person now, I’m a lot happier and mentally stronger. I really wanted to make this because, as much as it was a horrible experience for me, I want to make something good come out of it. I’ve got this huge platform – why would I not use that to raise awareness of how social media is affecting people?”
She Recently Went Through A Breakup
Nelson started dating Love Island star Chris Hughes in January 2019, and they quickly became couple goals. And get this — the pair was even talking about marriage in September 2019! Hughes told The Sun at the time, “We both want to get married. We found each other and we have endless respect for each other. I think that’s why our relationship works. We’re proper family people. We love each other’s family. I’m ready to settle down and I think she is.”
But in April 2020, news hit the web that they had split.
“Jesy and Chris split up a couple of weeks ago. It was all very amicable and they’re still really good friends,” a source told The Sun. “Jesy rang Chris and led the conversation about their relationship and both agreed that it felt like it had run its course — they’re both absolutely fine.”
It seemed like Nelson moved on pretty quickly, however, since she was spotted cozying up to actor Sean Sager a few months later.
Is Little Mix Splitting Up?
After news hit the web that Nelson was taking a break, many people started to wonder — is Little Mix going to split up? Well guys, according to The Sun, Edwards, Pinnock and Thirlwall all have plans to go solo after their contract ends next year.
“Jesy is also in talks over plans for her own solo career which will resume as soon as she’s feeling better,” the outlet reported.
“The girls have been open and honest with each other, and with their current management team. They have started discussions with some prospective managers and agents about what their solo careers might look like,” a source told them. “Some of the girls might end up taking on solo projects with their current management team too. But this isn’t about ending the band, it’s about looking to the future. They still have a tour scheduled to start in April next year, and even if that is delayed because of COVID, as is quite likely, they will still complete it. That will happen either with or without Jesy, who is taking some time out for as long as she feels she needs or wants to.”
The insider added, “They’re talking about trying to emulate Take That, where each member has been able to drift out at times and work on their own projects, but come together at other times to tour and work as a group again. They love the band and all that they’ve achieved, and still get on very well as great friends. There is absolutely no fall-out between them and they’re all supportive of each other doing new things. It’s an exciting time.”
We hope Nelson feels better ASAP.