Jesy Nelson claims another Little Mix star wanted to quit band first

Jesy Nelson has claimed that another member of Little Mix was first to announce that they wanted to quit the group, as she puts her own music career on hold to care for her twin daughters.

The pop singer, 34, is the subject of a new Amazon Prime documentary – Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix – that follows her departure from the chart-topping band, along with her tumultuous pregnancy journey, which was affected by a number of serious complications.

It had previously been assumed that Nelson was first to decide she wanted to leave; when she announced her departure in 2020, she cited the toll being in Little Mix was taking on her mental health.

However, the singer claims in the six-part series that another, unnamed member of the band shocked them when she announced her desire to quit, prompting a two-year “winding down” of group activities.

Nelson says in the documentary that she struggled to cope with this, and so announced her decision to leave a month after the release of the band’s final album, Confetti.

Her ex-bandmates Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards went on to perform their final tour before going on an indefinite hiatus; all former members have since been pursuing solo careers.

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In an interview on Jamie Laing’s Good Company podcast earlier this week, Nelson confessed that she wanted to leave Little Mix just two years after joining the band in 2011, and that she only stayed due to her family's insistence.

She explained that during her first attempt to leave, the band was not yet at its peak popularity. Nelson's brother apparently convinced her to “stick it out for another few years”.

In another interview Heart FM's Breakfast show on Thursday, Nelson told hosts Amanda Holden and Jamie Theakston her focus is now solely on her two children.

“I’d never say never to music, but for me, my girls are my main focus, I’ll be honest with you, I’ve not got time, I really don’t,” she said.

“They are my whole heart and soul and my main focus, and I want to continue advocating for them and getting this heel prick test changed and getting them strong, that’s my main focus.”

Nelson’s daughters Ocean Jade and Story Monroe Nelson-Foster are unlikely to ever be able to walk after being diagnosed with SMA1 (spinal muscular atrophy), a condition which, according to the NHS, causes muscle weakness, movement problems, problems with breathing and swallowing, muscle tremors, and bone and joint problems.

Since their diagnosis, Nelson has been campaigning for changes to the UK healthcare system, including for SMA1 screenings to take place at birth – starting a petition to get the condition added to the newborn blood spot screening test (also known as the heel prick test).

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Nelson, who shares her twins with former partner Zion Foster, revealed the girls are “vulnerable” right now during their treatment and “can't do a lot”.

“My mum and sister in law have them today, so because they are so vulnerable where they’ve had their treatment they are on a course of medication right now, so they can’t do a lot, so we have to be very careful we can’t take them to many places, because they can’t catch anything,” she explained.

“So once they’re off them hopefully we’ll be on the up. They’ll get even stronger, they’re doing really well.”