Little Mix star Jesy Nelson is finally learning to love herself following her trolling hell
IT wasn’t long ago that Little Mix’s Jesy Nelson opened up about her struggles with body image and self-worth, which led to her attempting to take her own life.
But now, in an exclusive interview to celebrate the girls’ new single Break Up Song — out Friday — she reveals she is finally learning to love herself after years of vile online abuse.
Jesy told me: “In years to come I’m going to be so old and wrinkly, I’m going to have saggy boobs and my belly is going to be all flabby and wrinkly.
“And I’m going to look back on these times when I thought I looked dreadful and think, ‘Jesus Christ, I actually looked bangin’.’
“I’m going to be like, ‘Why didn’t I f***ing appreciate myself?’.”
Since they formed on 2011’s The X Factor, Jesy and bandmates Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards have scored four UK No1s, released five albums and sold more than 50million records to become one of the biggest girl groups of all time.
‘I'M ACCEPTING MYSELF’
Yet despite that success and the positive reaction she received when she revealed her issues in a BBC documentary in September, Jesy admits she will struggle to get over the intense online bullying that nearly cost her life.
On the subject of loving herself, Jesy admitted: “It’s so f***ing hard.
“I will never, ever sit here and say, ‘Oh my God, I’m so confident now, I love myself’, because I don’t.
“It’s just something that I’m working on and I’m accepting myself for who I am.
“I know I’ll never, ever be the same and feel the same about myself.
“But I think I’m slowly starting to get myself to a point where I’m just accepting it for what it is and learning to get over certain things that I couldn’t before.”
However, it does mean she has felt good enough to wear outfits she would not have dreamed of putting on in the past.
Jesy added: “God, before I would never bloody wear a crop top or certain things that I do now.
“So absolutely, I’ve definitely come a long way in that sense.
“There are still things I hate about myself.
“But I’m just trying to learn to deal with them and accept them.”
bizbit
JESY has backed bandmate Jade’s calls for Madame Tussauds to give them waxworks at the central London attraction. She said: “That is a life dream. We would absolutely love to have Madame Tussauds statues.”
A write Mix
JESY missed the chance to get a writing credit on the band’s new tune Break Up Song after falling ill.
Bandmates Perrie, Leigh-Anne and Jade wrote the track last summer, and Jesy loves the track despite not being involved from the beginning.
She said: “I wasn’t well that day, that’s why I wasn’t in the studio. Me and Perrie are normally the ones that take a back seat and let Jade and Leigh do the writing because they have a real passion for it and love it.
“That was one of the days we were with Kamille, who’s our favourite writer, and I wasn’t well, so I was gutted I didn’t write on it. But they did so well with it.”
Break Up Song
LITTLE Mix return Friday with their first single in nine months – but it may be a while before we hear them again.
Their Eighties-inspired Break Up Song is another brilliant pop tune, but their upcoming sixth album has been stalled by the coronavirus pandemic.
Jesy said: “We’ve got all the songs. We just need to record them, which is what we were doing, then coronavirus happened.”
And a BBC spokesman confirmed last night that their TV show The Search, in which they look for the next big pop group to support them on tour, has been postponed until further notice.
But having filmed the auditions, Jesy insists the wait will be worth it.
She said: “I was listening to some of the people like, ‘How the hell have you not made it?’ I can’t wait for it to come out.”
Little ones are not on the agenda yet
JESY has been with former Love Islander Chris Hughes for more than a year, but don’t expect them to start a family any time soon.
She said: “I’m not really sure if I want kids. It’s never really been on my agenda.
“Maybe when I’m older I might change my mind. Right now I can’t think of anything worse.
“I think I feel like a kid myself, so it’s quite a scary thought having kids. I don’t think I’m ever not going to feel like a child myself.
“I would definitely love to get married though, absolutely.”
Some celebrities have said they feel frozen at the age when they became famous, which Jesy can relate to.
She said: “I think that’s true. I was 19. Yeah, maybe I do still feel 19. But then a lot of people I speak to who aren’t in the industry say they still feel really young.”
For now, she and Chris are taking their relationship slowly – and not just due to coronavirus.
On moving in together, Jesy said: “We haven’t got any plans to. I don’t like rushing things. I think you should do it at your own pace when things feel right. If I’m going to move in with Chris I’d like us to get our own house – I’m in my house at the moment.”
bizbit
LEIGH-ANNE says it is a strange experience being away from the girls while in isolation. She said: “I hate it. It’s so weird. This is probably the longest I’ve ever been away from them . . . I miss them so much.”
Factor in ten year birthday
IT is hard to believe but 2021 will mark a decade since Little Mix won The X Factor – and they are already planning the anniversary celebrations.
Jesy explained: “It’s just mad. It doesn’t feel like ten years. Well it does and it doesn’t. It’s crazy.
“We have spoken about it. We definitely want to do something, whether it be A Night With Little Mix where we do a big show talking about all the stuff that we’ve done and do some performances and have some guests on.
“We’d love to do something like that. Or maybe a special ten-year tour.
“We’ve spoken but we haven’t got anything cemented in.”
Whatever happens, I will be the first to raise a toast.
bizbit
PERRIE is hoping they can secure a collaboration with fellow British pop star Mabel. On the possibility of working together, she said: “She’s so epic and is bringing out bop after bop, so 100 per cent.”
Bingeing on TV with mum
JESY has called out for fans’ suggestions of what to watch on the box while she’s in self-isolation with her mum Janice.
She said: “I’m with my mum. It’s just me and her at the moment. I keep trying to find things on Netflix and telly to watch.
“We’ve done the whole of Doctor Foster, we stayed up till six in the morning.”
most read in bizarre
And it means the singer won’t see her boyfriend Chris for a while.
She added: “I was seeing him until the bloody lockdown. Now I can’t. He’s at home and I’m here, but it’s fine, we’re used to it anyway.
“I’m used to being away from him with touring and everything.”
- GOT a news story? RING us on 0207 782 4104 or WHATSAPP on 07423720250 or EMAIL [email protected]