Jesy Nelson On Leaving Little Mix: ‘It Feels Liberating’

Jesy Nelson felt free after getting a restart in her music career as a solo artist following her departure from Little Mix.

In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Tonight Friday while promoting her new song with Nicki Minaj, “Boyz,” the 30-year-old English singer addressed her exit from the British girl group Little Mix. Nelson did not shy away from admitting that she felt great after taking a different path from her former bandmates.

“It feels liberating, for the first time, I’m getting to speak my truth. It's hard to do when you're in a group -- to get across your stories between four girls in one song is hard, you can't do that,” she said.

Explaining further what made it hard for her to do the things she liked when she was still working with Leigh-Anne Pinnock, 30, Perrie Edwards, 28, and Jade Thirlwall, also 28, Nelson said it was the fact that they had to stick to a concept.

“You have to run with the concept and go with it. I've got so many stories to tell. I'm an honest person. There's not a lot my fans don't know about me. It's important for me to write music my fans can relate to,” she said.

Nelson continued, “If someone listens to me, and it helps two people, I've done my job. I want to be that artist where people listen to my music and they're like, ‘God, she really helped me through this time in my life.’”

The “X Factor” winner also admitted in the interview that she’s the happiest she’s ever been since leaving the group because she’s now content with herself and does not wake up anymore with anxiety.

Nelson’s statements received mixed reactions on social media, especially on Twitter where many of Little Mix’s fans called her out for dragging the group just to promote her new single.

“If you don’t want to be associated with LM because the pressure of being compared to 3 other girls bothers you so much, how about [you] don’t talk about them?” one fan tweeted.

“Instead of forgetting about her time in the band and focusing on her well-being, she has done nothing but barely shut up about her ‘awful time’ [face with rolling eyes emoji]. I wouldn’t bank on a reunion – Jesy has done nothing but slag off her old mates to promote her new music,” another wrote.

Some came to Nelson’s defense saying that she was just asked questions about her Little Mix days, so she had the right to speak her mind and answer them.

“Sorry, but why should she have to ignore a 10-year career she said she had some of the best memories from because people compared her to the other girls? Why do you all get so worked up about her mentioning Little Mix? She’s never said she doesn’t want to be associated with them,” one fan stated.

Nelson announced her departure from Little Mix in December 2020 after nine years of being in the group. At the time, she revealed that being compared to the other members took a toll on her mental health.