Jesy Nelson has reflected on her suicide attempt and revealed her mum begged her to quit Little Mix after she tried to take her own life in the band’s early days.
The songstress, 30, spoke on Fearne Cotton’s podcast Happy Place podcast, which is now part of Acast’s Creator Network, about her mental health troubles which she shed light on in her critically acclaimed 2019 documentary Odd One Out.
In the BBC show, she revealed that years of relentless trolling since finding fame on X Factor in 2011 led to her heartbreaking overdose before she finally left the group last year due to feeling ‘trapped and miserable’ for much of her time in Little Mix.
Speaking to Fearne, 40, she revealed her mum Janice White was ‘distraught’ after her hospitalisation and demanded she leave the group – yet Jesy had a music video to shoot just a week after she was being treated after the attempt.
Heartbreaking Jesy Nelson has reflected on her suicide attempt and revealed her mum begged her to quit Little Mix after she tried to take her own life in the band’s early days (pictured on her documentary Odd One Out)
She said: ‘Yeah. Well, I just remember obviously the first time, so obviously I’d taken an overdose. I went into hospital and then I had a music video like a week after…
‘And obviously my mum found out and she was distraught and she was outright: “This is it, you’re not doing this anymore”. Because my mum’s the kind of mum that’s like, ‘”Jes, we couldn’t give a s**t what you do as long as you’re happy…
‘”That’s all I care about”, So she was like, “No. This isn’t happening anymore. I’m like not putting my foot down and you’re coming out of this.” And obviously I didn’t know what to do at the time because it was very early stages of Little Mix as well.’
In her documentary, Jesy first spoke out about trying to take her own life after years of trolling, and went on to win awards for Jesy Nelson: Odd One Out.
Shock: In the BBC show, she revealed that years of relentless trolling since finding fame on X Factor in 2011 led to her heartbreaking overdose before she finally left the group last year due to feeling ‘trapped and miserable’ for much of her time in Little Mix (pictured in 2013)
That was then… Little Mix pictured in their Holiday music video
Jesy left viewers in tears as she bravely spoke about her battle with depression. She talked in depth for the first time about how trolls, who mocked her over her looks and weight, triggered her into the suicide attempt in 2013.
After the documentary aired, social media was awash with demands from fans to have the programme shown in schools to help educate youths.
In December, Jesy confirmed her permanent departure, just weeks after revealing she was taking a temporary hiatus from all work commitments and later revealed her mental health was the reason behind her leaving the group.
After much speculation she then teased her first solo single earlier this year and is set to unveil BOYZ at 6pm on Friday.
Her emotional departure statement read: ‘To all my Mixers, the past nine years in Little Mix has been the most incredible time of my life…
Hurt: Speaking to Fearne, 40, she revealed her mum Janice White (pictured) was ‘distraught’ after her hospitalisation and demanded she leave the group – yet Jesy had a music video to shoot just a week after she was being treated after the attempt
‘The truth is recently being in the band has really taken a toll on my mental health. I find the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard.
‘There comes a time in life when we need to reinvest in taking care of ourselves rather than focusing on making other people happy, and I feel like now is the time to begin that process.’
Little Mix also took to Instagram to share a statement over the news where they confirmed they would continue as a trio.
Pained: She said: ‘Yeah. Well, I just remember obviously the first time, so obviously I’d taken an overdose. I went into hospital and then I had a music video like a week after’ (pictured with bandmates Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall in 2015)
They wrote: ‘After an amazing 9 years together Jesy has made the decision to leave Little Mix. This is an incredibly sad time for all of us but we are fully supportive of Jesy.
‘We love her very much and agree that it is so important that she does what is right for her mental health and well-being. We are still very much enjoying our Little Mix journey and the 3 of us are not ready for it to be over.
‘We know that Jesy leaving the group is going to be really upsetting news for our fans. We love you guys so much and are so grateful for your loyalty and continued support of all of us. We’re looking forward to seeing so many of you on tour.’
Emotional: Her emotional statement read: ‘To all my Mixers, the past nine years in Little Mix has been the most incredible time of my life’
They signed off their post with: ‘Love always, Jade, Perrie and Leigh-Anne xxx.’
In 2019, Jesy admitted that there had been times she had thought about leaving the band during a radio interview on Capital London.
She said: ‘I was just so envious about how happy they [her bandmates] were. I just want to know what it feels like to be happy and feel like that, but I couldn’t, I couldn’t make myself happy.’
Elsewhere in the interview with Fearne, she spoke about her insecurities, saying: ‘I would say, 60% of me has I’ll never sit and lie and be like, oh, I’m so happy now, I don’t have any insecurities as that’s an absolute lie, I still have my insecurities, I still have my struggles…
‘I guess the thing that I’m better with now, is that I see little things now when I do a music video, I’m not looking on the camera and thinking, oh my God, I don’t look as skinny as Jade, Anne and Perrie…
The girls: Little Mix are continuing as a trio in the wake of Jesy’s departure
‘And that’s what I did every single day, and for the first time ever, I did my music video and I enjoyed it. I absolutely loved it and I was like, this is the feeling I should have had the whole time.’
‘And some people were not supportive of that, and some people are and I’m okay with that. Also, it wasn’t nice for Jade, Anne and Perrie to be around when I was so down, they we’re living their dream and I wasn’t…
‘I felt very miserable and trapped and I knew that, that wasn’t right.’
Elaborating further on going solo, she said: ‘To be compared every single day to three other girls was draining, and I couldn’t deal with that anymore…
Back! After much speculation she then teased her first solo single earlier this year and is set to unveil BOYZ at 6pm on Friday
‘And I think a lot of people have misconstrued what I meant in my statement, they’re like oh, so now she’s going solo. I never said in my statement, I’m coming out of the music industry, I’m not going to do music anymore…
‘I said, I’m just going to start a new chapter of my life, I just want to make myself happy. I don’t know what that’s going to be, but I need to look after myself now, make myself feel better again.’
For confidential 24/7 support in the UK, call Samaritans on 116 123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
The girls: Little Mix are pictured in June 2019, prior to Jesy’s departure