JADE has opened up about Jesy Nelson‘s departure from Little Mix, calling it “incredibly painful”.
Nelson originally left Little Mix in 2020, saying the pressure of being in the band had “taken a toll” on her mental health.
Though the girl group continued as a trio after her absence, they announced they were taking a “little break” to focus on each member’s respective solo projects once their ‘Confetti’ tour ended in 2022.
Now, JADE has reflected on Nelson leaving the group in an interview with The Guardian, saying: “It was incredibly painful. For all of us, that was the worst part, and it’s taken a lot of understanding and therapy and all those things to work out how that can happen when you’ve devoted so much time and love to someone.
“My biggest wish for that whole period is that it was handled differently. I just would’ve loved us to all sit and chat about it,” she continued.
Nelson has previously discussed how badly her mental health was impacted by her celebrity profile while in the group. She once explained how one tweet from Katy Hopkins about her weight affected her so badly it led her to attempt suicide. Hopkins posted the tweet when Little Mix returned to The X Factor for a guest performance in 2013.
Jade went on to say: “We absolutely adored Jesy like family – it wasn’t just work,” adding: “We all wanted to protect her, because we understood that trauma there and what she’d been through. I think we handled it as best as we could. All of a sudden, we were a member short in the middle of album promo, with everyone asking what was going on.
“Obviously we don’t speak any more, and things happened that I don’t think should have, but I still do feel an element of protection towards Jesy,” she added. “Nobody fully understands how complex the whole thing was – it wasn’t just a case of someone wanting to leave. Numerous things built up in the last year and in the back of my mind I knew it was going to happen. I’d just like for it to have happened in a … better way.”
It’s not the first time a Little Mix member has acknowledged Nelson’s departure. Last year, Perrie Edwards began teasing a song about a past friendship, and later discussed her relationship with her former bandmate, saying they “don’t talk, and haven’t done for a long time.”
“It’s really sad, it’s heartbreaking,” she added. “But sometimes these things happen and people decide they want to part ways, and that’s absolutely fine. I would rather it went differently, but you can’t control how things go.’”
Meanwhile, Leigh-Anne Pinnock has previously admitted Little Mix needed therapy after Nelson’s “traumatic” departure, recalling: “The whole thing was abrupt and sad and then it was messy.
“We were a family, the four of us were like sisters, and we had been that way since we were teenagers, so it’s not an over-exaggeration to say that losing a member was a traumatic experience.
“When you have felt so much love and support with another person over such a long time and then that suddenly disappears you never fully get to understand why it hurts.”
Last year, a producer for the group alleged that Nelson’s vocals were sung by an impersonator for one of their last songs as a quartet, as she was “over it”.
Nelson released her first solo single, ‘Boyz’, featuring Nicki Minaj, in 2021, followed by ‘Bad Thing’ in 2023. She recently gave birth to “healthy and fighting strong” twin daughters, Ocean Jade and Story Monroe Nelson-Foster.
In the same interview, JADE criticised The 1975’s Matty Healy for avoiding politics at Glastonbury 2025, saying “I don’t think you can be a pop artist and cover your eyes”.
JADE made headlines of her own at Glastonbury this year, playing the Woodsies Stage on Saturday and being introduced by Doctor Who actor Ncuti Gatwa. During the set, she led the crowd in chants of “fuck you” to a range of targets, including Reform UK, “welfare cuts, transphobia, silencing protest, selling arms and justifying genocide”.
NME also caught up with her backstage at Worthy Farm. “I still feel like I’m having an out-of-body experience after my performance. I’ve not come down from it yet,” she said. “I’ve always dreamed of doing Glastonbury, and to be here with my own music is great. It’s nice to know that the writing I’ve been doing for myself is what got me here.”
She releases her debut solo album ‘THAT’S SHOWBIZ BABY!” on September 12, with special appearances from RAYE, Mike Sabath, Lostboy, Cirkut and Pablo Bowman.
She will also be opening for Chappell Roan at two huge outdoor shows in Edinburgh later this month – find any remaining tickets here. She will also play as part of RAYE’s All Points East line-up in London next weekend.
