JESY Nelson has revealed that she wanted to leave Little Mix after just two years of being in the band.
The singer, 34, joined the popular girl group after winning The X Factor in 2011, subsequently catapulting her into fame.
The group toured all over the world, accumulated numerous number one hits, and were only one year off celebrating their 10th anniversary as a band – when Jesy decided to call it quits.
But now Jesy’s shared that she actually wanted to leave Little Mix seven years sooner than she did.
Speaking on the Great Company with Jamie Laing podcast, Ms Nelson sat across the table wearing a knitted camouflage patterned zip-up.
Jamie praised her for having the courage to go her own way, and then she explained how doing that “had presented itself” way before she made the final decision to leave.
“That [leaving] presented itself far before I made that decision,” Jesy said.
“There was a time where I was like ‘oh, I want to leave’ and I remember sitting down with my family… and it was actually because of my brother that in the end I stayed.”
She continued: “The first time I wanted to leave I remember I went home and we were kinda weighing up the [pros and cons]… and at that point we weren’t even like at our biggest.
“We were, it had only been like two years, but we were still big. Everyone still knew who Little Mix were so it was like ‘if you leave now, what are you going to do?’”
Her brother praised her strength, encouraging her to stay, but also encouraging her to make as much money as she could off of Little Mix‘s fame.
“My brother was like ‘you are so much stronger than you give yourself credit for and I think you can stick this out for another few years.’
“I’m going to be completely honest about what he said, he said ‘just make as much money as you can, you’ve got a chance to really change your family’s life. If somewhere in you can do this for another few years, do it, and then leave, because you’ll never get this opportunity again.’”
Jesy continued to note that her brother “was right” and said she’s now grateful that she stayed and could “change her family’s life” – including getting extra treatments for her twin girls.
She gave birth to Ocean and Story last year and heartbreakingly discovered that they both have spinal muscular atrophy type 1 (SMA), and may never learn how to walk.
If SMA is caught early preventative treatments can assist newborn’s quality of life. However, the symptoms weren’t realised instantly in Jesy’s children, who will now suffer with unknown permanent difficulties.
Jesy did get her twins the treatment they needed, but they were at that point around 8 months old.
The brave mother has since been rallying for SMA screening to be mandatory after every birth to stop the 50 babies per year born with it from suffering.
Around the time of the devastating diagnosis Jesy and her partner Zion called time on their relationship.
They continue to co-parent their daughters during an incredibly tough time.