Camila Cabello’s Fifth Harmony Exit Made Group ‘Strong,’ Lauren Jauregui Denies Shadiness

Fifth Harmony has so much to look forward to this month. Not only will they be releasing their third studio album, but they will also be performing at the MTV Music Video Awards. Despite all of their current success, the group has had a rough year since Camila Cabello left, and getting to the positive place that they are in now wasn’t easy.

During an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the four remaining members, Lauren Jauregui, Ally Brooke Hernandez, Normani Kordei and Dinah Jane Hansen, reflected on where they stand as a group.

“We’re so in sync, the four of us. When you have a strong unit, there’s no stopping you,” Jauregui told the publication.

“We’ve been taking leaps of faiths — and trusting ourselves,” Hansen added.

The group admitted that for a long time they lacked control of their lives and their music because they always had someone telling them what to do. “It came to a point where I’d catch myself onstage and realize, ‘I’m not feeling this,’” Kordei explained.

“It scared me because this is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” she added.

Jauregui echoed Kordei’s sentiments, revealing that she struggled to stay passionate about her career. “It’s overwhelming to have your whole, entire life planned for something you don’t feel passionate about,” she said.

“You’re not seeing your family, your friends. You’re not doing anything for yourself. It was depressing, draining and sad. Now, it’s a whole different thing,” she added.

The ladies were eventually able to gain control of their lives and music with some legal help, and have become bonded as a foursome. Despite the progress they have made since Cabello left Fifth Harmony in December, the ladies seem to find it difficult to discuss their former group member.

During an appearance on the podcast, “Bizarre Life with Dan Wootton,” the group got into a brief disagreement with the host, who kept pushing them to discuss Cabello’s exit.

At one point during the interview, the host suggested that the group was at their “peak” when Cabello left. “I don’t know about that,” the ladies can be heard saying.

The host went onto ask what inspired the group to keep moving forward rather than break up, and Kordei revealed they felt Fifth Harmony had more to offer even though they were a member short.

“Just the respect and love that we have for each other and just considering how hard we’ve worked these last four to five years, we knew that that wasn’t it...We were actually really nervous, we were scared, it was definitely a hard time, especially at the top of this year, but our fans, they were so loyal, they were dedicated, they were there for us in that time that just felt like hell,” she said

“We have each other and we just knew that that wasn’t it for us. We were debating and going back and forth. We all knew in our hearts that there was something greater than what we had created and honestly we are at our peak right now,” she added.

However, the interview eventually went downhill when the host brought up how the singers unfollowed Cabello on social media. The “I Have Questions” singer unfollowed the group shortly after their interview with Billboard, where they told the magazine that Cabello’s departure has put them in a great place emotionally and that they have solidified a strong bond.

Once the 20-year-old unfollowed all of her ex group members, the ladies followed suit and did the same. Although neither party has addressed their social media cleanse, Wotton pushed for answers from 5H, which upset Jauregui.

“Like, what is this? We want to talk about our new music. We don’t want to be shady, man,” the singer can be heard saying before the interview is cut. Despite their rocky start, the group was able to return and speak about their music but would not address Cabello’s exit.

Fifth Harmony’s self-titled album is scheduled to be released on Aug. 25.