On December 14, 2020, Little Mix announced that Jesy Nelson, one out of four members, would be leaving the band. To us, Little Mix fans, our nine years of faith fell apart, or at least mine did.
Before Jesy had decided to leave the group, they had wrapped filming of their show “Little Mix: The Search” and released their latest album “Confetti” in November of 2020. Fans took note that Jesy didn’t feature on many of the songs like she normally would have. Along with this, she also missed a few live performances with the band.
Personally, I felt like this was in the works for a while. After the albums came out as well as her missing performances, I had a bad feeling in my gut telling me something big was about to happen. When I first read the announcement, I had a flashback to the announcement One Direction made about Zayn Malik leaving the band.
Jesy and Zayn had similar reasons as to why they wanted to leave the band. They both were under stress during their time in the band and felt as if it was messing with their health.
Jesy had made a documentary titled “The Odd One Out” that talks about her experience with online bullying, mental health, as well as body shaming. It had taken such a toll on her that she felt the need to separate from the rest of the girls.
With all of the memories and music that she has made within the group, Jesy decided to better herself. There may be artists out there who are afraid to take the step that she did because of the aftermath that might come with it. Jesy knew exactly what she needed to do and put herself first in a difficult situation. She had full support from all three bandmates, Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jade Thirlwall.
While this was indeed my second major heartbreak (Zayn leaving One Direction being the first), on behalf of all Mixers, we support Jesy in her decision on leaving the band.
This is a lesson to be learned when you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. No matter who you are or what you do, do not be afraid to put yourself and your mental health first.