‘They all turned on her. It was vicious’: The toxic truth about how Little Mix ‘ganged up’ on Jesy Nelson… as insiders tell KATIE HIND why band wanted her ‘cancelled for good’ – and reveal her secret source of support

When Jesy Nelson won The X Factor with her bandmates Little Mix in 2011, she took no time to celebrate. The first thing he did instead was hire a personal trainer.

It was the early days of social media, but the trolls were just as vicious. Cruel online commenters told Jesy, then just 20, that she was the ‘ugliest thing’ and that she ‘deserved to die’ because she was curvier than bandmates Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Ann Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall. It was all too much for Essex-born Jesy.

I remember from that time how her bandmates liked to show off their toned bellies in revealing tops, while Jesy liked to cover it up. She later said the abuse led to her overdosing.

The truth is that Jesy has never found fame easy. During her audition, she instantly wowed X Factor judges Simon Cowell and Tulisa Contostavlos by singing Bust Your Windows by American R’n’B singer Jazmine Sullivan. Weeks later, following the chart-topping success of boy band One Direction, Simon formed a girl group and placed Jesy alongside Geordie friends Perrie, Jade and Leigh-Anne.

And that’s where the problems started. A source who was working on X Factor at the time recalls how Jesy switched between being ‘scared’ of the spotlight and being loud and brash as she tried to fit in with the other more confident girls.

In fact, when I interviewed Little Mix on the ITV show, it was Leigh-Ann and Perrie who did almost all the talking. Jesy was quiet and made me uncomfortable. She was vibrant and beautiful, but part of me felt sorry for her; It was as if he had been thrust into a world that was not suitable for him.

‘The other girls were skinny,’ says a source who knew them at the time. ‘Jesy had curves; It was and still is beautiful. And he wanted fame, he wanted to be a star. But looking back now, I wonder if the best thing for him might have been to avoid that audition.

There was something about being in ‘Little Mix’ that was a struggle. Fame was crazy, everyone had their own opinion. Maybe it would be better if he wasn’t famous at all.’

Jesy with her twin daughters Ocean Jade and Story Monroe Nelson-Foster. She recently announced that her prematurely born children were diagnosed with the genetic disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and will likely never walk.

And they were certainly famous. Little Mix are certainly the most successful act to win the X Factor (One Direction came third in 2010). Jesy and the other girls have racked up over 15 billion total streams on Spotify, performed in over 20 countries and sold three million concert tickets.

The truth is Jesy wanted to be famous long before her X Factor auditions. As a teenager, she attended the Sylvia Young Theater School in central London and three years later had non-speaking roles in both 2002’s About A Boy and Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire.

But being in the spotlight wasn’t always easy. Jesy revealed in the brave 2019 BBC documentary Odd One Out that violent online bullying was taking a toll on her mental health, leading to a suicide attempt.

But of course nothing compares to the ordeal Jesy has endured in recent months following the devastatingly sad revelation that her beloved seven-month-old daughters, Ocean Jade and Story Monroe Nelson-Foster, suffer from the genetic disease spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The rare neuromuscular condition causes progressive weakness and wasting, and Jesy said her twin daughters may never walk.

The star, who gave birth to babies early, explained on Sunday that this condition “affects every muscle, from legs, arms, breathing and swallowing,” adding: “Over time, it kills the muscles in the body.” If not treated in time, your baby’s life expectancy will not exceed two years of age.’

In her typically fierce manner, Jesy, 34, insisted in an emotional Instagram video that her daughters would ‘defy all the odds’ and that with the right help they would ‘fight through this’.

Jesy, who is in a relationship with musician Zion Foster, continued: ‘The last few months have been the most heartbreaking of my life. ‘I almost feel like I’m suffering from a life I thought I would have with my children.’

Its announcement sparked a huge wave of support and also increased awareness of SMA. Even her ex-boyfriend, Love Island heartthrob Chris Hughes, spoke out. Chris, who dated Jesy from early 2019 until their split in April 2020, shared a clip of Jesy’s interview with This Morning presenters Cat Deeley, 49, and Ben Shephard, 51, on Instagram on Wednesday evening, writing: ‘Heartbreaking, what an amazing person.’

In an emotional Instagram video, Jesy insisted her daughters will ‘defy all odds’ and with the right help they will ‘fight through it’.

Jesy with her twins and partner Zion Foster. The couple has been together since 2022

However, fans noted that Jesy’s former Little Mix colleagues had remained silent about her situation. Despite living and touring the world with them for almost a decade, becoming the most successful British female group since the Spice Girls, the trio have chosen not to comment, at least for now.

In 2020, Jesy left the group, saying it was damaging to her mental health and that she found the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations “too difficult”. He also took a swipe at Perrie, Leigh-Ann and Jade, saying: ‘I need to spend some time with the people I love, doing things that make me happy.’

‘Nothing seems to be going right for Jesy,’ says one of her colleagues. ‘It’s devastating to watch. He always seemed like the odd one out, even when the band was at the height of their fame. The girls were much more ‘posed’. There was a lot of teasing.

‘He used to be cheerful and happy; Then X Factor happened and Little Mix came along and everything changed. He fought so hard. ‘He hoped things would be better when he left.’

But it wasn’t. In 2021, Leigh-Ann accused former friend Jesy of ‘blackfishing’ (appropriating black culture) in the music video for her solo hit Boyz. In short, the debate following the Black Lives Matter protests that swept the world during the Covid pandemic focused on whether Jesy, who is white, was ‘pretending’ to be black or mixed-race in the video, braiding her hair, wearing a gold grill on her teeth and rapping about wanting a ‘very hooded’ boy.

This turned into one of the biggest showbiz scandals of the year, with allies of Leigh-Ann, Perrie and Jade creating a massive media backlash against Jesy; Black international superstar Nicki Minaj even rushed to her defense, calling Jesy’s former bandmates ‘jealous clowns’.

I remember it being said at the time that her former bandmates wanted Jesy to be ‘cancelled’ completely. ‘It felt like a real gang situation,’ says my source. Jesy was alone. ‘After all these years together they have really transformed and it has become a one-sided, vicious briefing war.’

Today there is more love than ever for Jesy, both inside and outside showbiz.

Her friends tell me the support behind the scenes for her and her daughters that we don’t know about has been ‘absolutely tremendous’.

‘He has managed to raise awareness of this terrible situation and that is very, very important to him,’ says a colleague.

‘Jesy’s fame means she has a voice that can help her daughters and other babies.’

Perhaps, 15 years after her first performance in front of Cowell and her fellow judges, life in the spotlight may have been worth it.