Little Mix’s chaotic year – Jesy spat, surprise babies and calling a hiatus

Little Mix fans have witnessed a whirlwind year for the band following on from Jesy Nelson announcing her departure a year ago.

The remaining members – Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards – decided to continue as a threesome without her, and have had their plates full making new music, branching into new career paths as well as Perrie and Leigh-Anne becoming first times mums.

However, the biggest shock was when the trio broke the news that they are planning to press pause on working together after their final Confetti tour, which ends in May next year.

Jade, Perrie and Leigh-Anne have been adamant that they aren’t splitting up but taking time out to recharge and work on other projects.

So as the threesome prepares for their final few months together, before temporarily cutting ties, here is a look at their chaotic 2021 following Jesy quitting the girl group.

Baby joy

The first half of the year the girls were in lockdown like the rest of England but when restrictions began to ease in May they came back with some pretty big news.

Leigh-Anne was first with a life-changing announcement as she told on Instagram that she was pregnant.

She and fiancé Andre Gray shared the news almost a year after footballer Andre surprised Leigh-Anne with a romantic proposal in their garden in June 2020.

Alongside a collection of stunning images that showcased her bump, she penned: “We’ve dreamed about this moment for so long and we can’t believe the dream is finally coming true…

“We can’t wait to meet you.”

Days later Perrie announced she was pregnant with her first baby with beau Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Perrie, 27, shared a set of black and white photographs to her Instagram as she showed off her baby bump for the first time to break the news.

“So happy to be on this wild journey with my soulmate

“Me + Him = You

“We can’t wait to meet you baby Ox!” she penned.

Following the pair excitedly unveiling they were to become parents fans rushed to the comments to congratulate them.

However, it was not long before long eagle-eyed followers noticed that their ex-bandmate Jesy did not speak out publicly to congratulate them.

Her silence on social media led fans to wonder if the foursome were no longer on good terms despite Jade, Leigh-Anne and Perry sharing their support for Jesy when she quit the group months prior.

Time flew and before long Perrie announced the arrival of her firstborn.

“Welcome to the world baby 21/08/21,” she posted alongside a pair of sweet snaps on Instagram and later revealed that she and partner Alex decided to name their child Axel.

Days after, Leigh-Anne took to social media to share that she was in a love bubble after giving birth then surprisingly announced that she had twins.

The Little Mix singer took to Instagram to announce she has secretly welcomed two ‘miracle’ babies.

Sharing the happy news with an adorable black and white photo of the babies’ feet, Leigh-Anne penned: “We asked for a miracle, we were given two… Our Cubbies are here 16/08/21.”

Jesy versus Little Mix begins

The same month as Perrie and Leigh-Anne embarked on their new chapters as mums, former Little Mix sensation Jesy took part in an interview where she confessed to cutting ties with the girls she found fame on The X Factor with.

Speaking with The Guardian in August, Jesy said that she had not spoken to her ex-bandmates, but claimed there was no ill-feeling between them.

When asked if she was still in touch with the girls, she told: “No, not as much. Not now. I think we all need time. It’s a big thing that’s happened. I still love them to pieces. They were like my sisters.”

In October, things went up a notch when Jesy released her first solo single since leaving the band.

Jade, Perrie and Leigh-Anne did not mention anything as Jesy did the media rounds and shared dozens of Stories to her Instagram account to drum up interest in her new single before it went on sale.

Her former bandmates opted to stay focused on their own endeavours with them taking to social media just hours after Jesy dropped her song Boyz to promote some limited edition Little Mix merchandise.

Blackfishing row

Jesy came under fire from fans when she released her debut solo song Boyz featuring Nicki Minaj.

She was accused of blackfishing – a term that refers to someone who is pretending to be black or mixed-race – due to sporting a dark tan and braided hair in the video.

It was not just music fans blasting Jesy’s blackfishing as it was spotted that Leigh-Anne liked a TikTok video blasting Jesy for having skin the same tone as Trinidadian Nicki Minaj’s in her new video.

Then TikTok sensation NoHun revealed a string of screenshotted messages to him from a user claiming to be Leigh-Anne where ex-bandmate Jesy was dubbed a “horrible person.”

The chart-toppers account also appeared to suggest to the content creator that he should create a video on Jesy blackfishing.

NoHun shared a screengrab of the text messages to show a message from Leigh-Anne claiming Jesy blocked her, Jade and Perrie on social media.

At the end of October, Little Mix spoke publicly amid the blackfishing row

Chatting with Daily Telegraph’s Stella magazine Leigh-Anne Pinnock said it is not acceptable to use harmful stereotypes.

She told the supplement: “Capitalising on aspects of blackness without having to endure the daily realities of the black experience is problematic and harmful to people of colour. We think it’s absolutely not OK to use harmful stereotypes. There’s so much to say on that subject that it’s hard to sum up in a sound bite.”

The girls also confirmed that Jesy was aware of the issue as they explained it to her before she even quit the band last December.

They told: “One thing we will clarify regarding the blackfishing situation is that Jesy was approached by the group in a very friendly, educational manner.”

Before the girls spoke out Jesy said during an Instagram livestream: “I personally want to say that my intention was never, ever to offend people of colour with this video and my song because like I said, growing up as a young girl, this is the music that I listened to.

She continued: “My intention was never, ever, ever want to offend anyone and genuinely it actually does really hurt me that I may have offended people and actually, like, hurt people’s feelings just by genuinely celebrating something that I love.”

The singer admitted that she felt fortunate to tan easily in the sun and claimed that Leigh-Anne had previously commented on how she tanned.

When she addressed the alleged comments made by Leigh-Anne about blackfishing, Jesy said: “It’s just hard for me because I was in a group with two women of colour for nine years and it was never brought up to me up until the last music video I did with them.”

Career changes

Leigh-Anne Pinnock broke into acting this year after bagging a role in Britain’s first black Christmas rom com, Boxing Day, which was released in cinemas on Friday December 3.

The hitmaker – who presented the MOBO Awards this month – has made it clear that she is keen to bag more roles.

Speaking to Roman Kemp on Capital FM Breakfast, she said: “I hadn’t acted before and it’s my first big opportunity…I loved every second and I would love to do a film a year maybe.”

Jade reportedly wants to cement herself as a songwriter.

It looks like the South-Shields native wont have any trouble as she already has penned songs for the likes of Britney Spears and Billy Porter.

With songwriting credits for other artists already under her belt, it looks like Jade Thirlwall is firmly staying in the music business.

Perrie reportedly has plans to become a wellness entrepreneur and is secretly building a brand – reportedly called Disora – which will sell clothing, cosmetics and jewellery.

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