Little Mix star Jesy Nelson to take ‘extended’ break from the band
Little Mix as a four-piece back in September. (Getty)
Little Mix has confirmed that Jesy Nelson will take “extended time off” from the band.
After missing a series of high-profile appearances due to illness, it has been confirmed that Little Mix star Jesy will remain on leave for “private medical reasons”.
“We will not be issuing any further comment currently and ask media to please respect her privacy at this time,” read a statement issued Tuesday (17 November).
Jesy pulled out of the final of the band’s reality competition show, Little Mix: The Search, on 7 November, the day after their sixth album Confetti was released.
She was also due to host the MTV EMAs the following night, but was absent.
Her bandmates Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards and Leigh-Anne Pinnock continued without her, and all appeared as a trio on Children In Need on November 13.
Little Mix has not explained what illness Jesy is facing, but regardless fans have flooded the internet with well wishes.
Little Mix always strike me as a group that’s a real unit, four women who are close and support each other. I hope Jesy is doing ok and knows the many many pop fans who root for her n her talents as a performer ? https://t.co/CuyTplqtR7
— Conor Behan (@ItsConorBehan) November 17, 2020
❤️ whatever’s happening with Jesy i hope she takes care of herself and doesn’t return to work until she is 2000% ready https://t.co/tunEwg5j4F— Shaun Kitchener (@ShaunKitchener) November 17, 2020
I know she won’t see this but I just hope she knows that we’re all sending her so much love and light ? pic.twitter.com/E1k7iX1puS— Talia Grace ? (@eartht0talia) November 17, 2020
sending positive energies and all my love to you. I hope you get well soon, we love you jesy nelson #WeLoveYouJesy ? pic.twitter.com/lNZSwYq2QC— ju (@lmxwasabii) November 17, 2020
Last weekend the band’s sixth album Confetti went in at number two after a hard-fought chart battle with Kylie Minogue’s Disco.
Little Mix star Jesy Nelson has been candid about her struggles.
In 2019 Little Mix’s Jesy Nelson made a documentary in which she candidly talked about the cyberbullying she has faced as a member of Little Mix.
Odd One Out saw the star discuss being labelled “the fat one” of the group, revealing the toll it took on her mental health and exploring how cyberbullying affects thousands of young people.
She told The Guardian how she became “obsessed” with reading criticism, failing to see the troves of praise fans were heaping on her.
“It only got worse when I got Twitter,” she said.
“And that led to the Daily Mail, and reading the [below the line] comments – the worst you can read about yourself. It was like I purposely wanted to hurt myself.”
Therapy, opening up about her feelings and making the documentary all helped, she said at the time, adding: “Don’t get me wrong, I still have days when I feel shit in myself but instead of beating myself up about it and being miserable, I think: ‘OK, I’m going to have my moment of being sad, and I’ll be over it.’ Before, I didn’t let myself be sad.”
The documentary broke viewing records for BBC Three and won a National Television Award.
