daughters

JESY Nelson says she “can’t stop crying” over her “bittersweet” victory to test all babies in England with SMA – knowing it came too late for her twin daughters.

The groundbreaking rule change comes as the former Little Mix star faces fresh heartache over her one-year-old kids, Ocean Jade and Story Monroe, whose latest test results sparked concern following treatment for the muscle-wasting disease.

It’s feared the girls will never be able to walk after a late diagnosis of the life-threatening condition Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1.

In her new Prime Video show, Jesy Nelson: Life Changing, the singer breaks down in tears over the guilt she carries and worries her children will blame her, when they’re older, for not spotting the signs sooner.

Jesy told The Sun: “I know it’s not my fault, but when I watch back videos of when I brought them home and they were kicking their legs, I realise now that over the course of a month, they just stopped.

“That’s the part where the guilt kicks in because I don’t understand how I didn’t see that. Why didn’t I spot that?

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“But when I left the neonatal ward, I was constantly told to check their temperature, make sure you’re monitoring their breathing and there was so much other stuff that I was looking out for because they were premature babies.

“I just honestly didn’t focus on the movement of their legs.

“Thank God for my mum, because God knows what position I would have been in if she hadn’t spotted it.

“That will probably never leave me. I’ll be honest, I don’t think it ever will. But I really hope as they get older, they understand how flipping amazing they are because they are the most resilient little girls I’ve ever known.

“I’m literally in awe of them. Even with what they have to endure every day, they are the happiest babies.”

At Ocean and Story’s most recent three-month review at St Ormond Street’s Children’s Hospital, doctors warned Jesy the girls were not responding to treatment the way they had hoped.

She said: “Unfortunately, some of the numbers have gone down. We had a long discussion and there’s a possibility they may have to go back on treatment, which is just heartbreaking.

“I constantly battle between manifesting they’re going to defy the odds and trying to come to accept that that may not happen.

“It’s a really weird position to be in because you you think ‘well, if that doesn’t happen, am I just going to feel heartbroken for the rest of my life?’

“Then you worry, if I accept it, am I also manifesting that?”

She added: “I don’t ever want them to feel any less than or feel like it defines them. I really want them to know how special they are.

“I want this to be their little superpower.”

Speaking candidly, Jesy admits the success of her campaign for a breakthrough rule change – adding screening for spinal muscular atrophy to the NHS‘s newborn blood spot test – was a tough pill to swallow.

Every year 50 babies born with the condition will now find out they carry the genetic condition at birth. It means they can be given treatment before nerves and muscles are damaged beyond repair.

Jesy said: “I’ve not stopped crying, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I just keep going through waves of emotions. I’ve had an outpouring of messages from families within the SMA community.

“It’s just a real weird one because obviously there’s a lot of mixed emotions. I think for people dealing with children that have got SMA, who got diagnosed too late, feel it’s almost a bit bittersweet.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow to know that, yes, this change is amazing and I really don’t want to take anything away from it, but if only this had been here for our children.

“It’s just sad because so many families have campaigned about this for years.

“So yeah I’ve going through a real mix of emotions, but ultimately I am super proud. I’m ridiculously proud and cannot wait until our children are old enough to tell them they’ve played a massive part in change.”

Her new Prime Video doc is released on Friday, July 17.

The 60-minute episode shows the moment Jesy finds out her daughters’ diagnosis and her grit and determination to launch her campaign.

While a phased rollout will begin in October 2026, Jesy’s fight continues to raise awareness of the condition because the screening won’t be available in other parts of the UK.

“I hope as many people as possible see the documentary because I wanted to raise as much awareness as I could about it and the signs to look out for.

“As amazing as the rollout is, Northern Ireland and Wales are still not part of the heel-prick test, meaning many babies will still be undiagnosed and not treated in time.

“I’m just praying that if they watch this documentary, they will spot the signs early enough, take them to the doctor and get them treatment.”

• Jesy Nelson: Life Changing will be available exclusively on Prime Video on July 17.

JESY Nelson has revealed the tragic reason her twin daughters’ treatment for SMA was delayed – despite the increased risk of permanent nerve and muscle damage.

The former Little Mix star details the heartbreaking moment Ocean Jade and Story Monroe, who have have Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1, are forced to miss out on the gene-therapy infusion earlier this year.

In her new Prime Video documentary, Jesy Nelson: Life Changing, Jesy says Story was rushed to hospital with pneumonia – just days before Ocean was struck down by another illness.

Speaking in the docu-series, which is released on Friday, July 17, Jesy said: “Not long after we got the diagnosis, they were booked in to have their treatment.

“Then Story got pneumonia and was really struggling to breathe.

“She started choking so we had to rush her into hospital. It breaks my heart because she’s so vulnerable.

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“That’s when we were told that she can’t have the treatment.”

Any delay in treatment increases the chance of permanent nerve and muscle damage

After close monitoring, it was decided that Story and Ocen were not well enough to receive the gene therapy.

Jesy added: “That was when she got given her breathing machine.

“She came home and then Ocean got ill.”

During the episode, which began filming straight after the cameras stopped rolling on her first series, Life After Little Mix.

Her partner Zion Foster – who has since split from Jesy – said: “I’m not equipped to deal with this. I’m out of my depth; emotionally, physically and mentally.”

The documentary covers their split, which was revealed by The Sun earlier this year.

Jesy has since thrown herself into work – tirelessly campaigning to raise awareness of SMA and pressure the government to add the condition onto the NHS newborn heel-prick test, which currently screens for ten other conditions.

On Wednesday, April 1, the Department of Health and Social Care announced that England will bring forward the newborn screening of SMA.

A phased rollout will begin in October 2026. However, screening will not be available in all parts of England.

JESY Nelson has shared her twin daughters’ spinal braces with an emotional message ahead of the upcoming Parliament debate.

The mum-of-two made a candid post explaining her daughters now have to wear them every day.

Jesy shared a snap of her twin daughters Ocean and Story’s spinal braces as she urged fans to attend the Parliament debate on SMA screening.

She captioned the image: “Just a reminder that future SMA babies’ lives don’t need to look like this!

“These are Ocean and Story’s spinal braces that [they] now have to wear every day.”

Jesy also shared a snap of the Parliament debate poster and wrote: “I hope to see as many of you there tomorrow. It’s going to be a big day.”

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It comes after Jesy spoke out about the unjust and “nsane” SMA “postcode lottery” – which “decides if children will be disabled or not.”

The loving mum appeared on social media in a candid video expressing her deep frustrations over ‘unfair’ Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) heel prick testing.

The X Factor star – who has racked up over 150k signatures – is calling for SMA to be tested for at birth regardless of where you live.

The debate is set to take place tomorrow, June 22, and, if granted, SMA screenings will be added for newborns.

The singer’s daughters Ocean Jade and Story Monroe were born prematurely in May last year and were diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 1.

In the emotional video, the singer said: “I just wanted to come on here to basically chat about a few things that are just so incredibly important to me and I know so many other people.

“Some of you may be aware of the fact that I’ve been trying to get SMA as part of the heel prick test here in England, and thank God for you guys, the signatures got over 150,000 and because of that, it is now going to get debated in parliament this Monday coming up, which is just crazy to me to know that we did that and I just need you guys to know that this has never been debated in parliament before.

“There has been a whole community of people that have been screaming and shouting about this for years and years and years, and it’s never been able to get this far, because it’s been ignored every single time.

“But you guys did it, because you made enough noise and you supported this and you got it there and I cannot thank you guys enough…

“So many thoughts have been going through my mind over this week, because every time I think about it, I’m like, how am I going to Parliament on Monday to debate whether children, future children, are going to be disabled or not?

“That’s how deep it is, because if your child gets this treatment from birth with a simple heel prick test and they get this treatment, you would not even know that they have SMA. 

“That’s how deep it is, right? That is how life-changing this treatment is. You would not even know that your child has SMA, but if they don’t get this treatment and they don’t get the heel prick test, they will go on to be disabled…

“And not only be disabled, but they will go on to have breathing machines, coughing machines, constant operations. It never ever ends.

“And I still can’t believe that in this day and age, when we’ve had three life-changing treatments now for nearly six years, it’s still a thing. It’s still not here in England.

“It is being rolled out in October, but only in certain parts of England.

“How does that make sense? How are we playing postcode lottery with children’s lives? How is that okay? I cannot stress you how important this is.

“This is our future, future children we are deciding on. Mums now that are currently pregnant and maybe about to have a baby that could potentially have this disease. We’re basically going to decide whether they’re going to be disabled or not, like it blows my mind.

“And I just seem to stress this so much, because that’s how deep it is. We are playing with children’s lives and it is not okay.

“It’s not okay to be like, if you live in this area, your child won’t be disabled, but if you live in this area, yeah, they’ll be disabled.

“We’re not doing this anymore. We’ve made too much noise now for this to be ignored.

“Anyway, sorry for getting irate about this, but it makes me so sad to think that my children’s lives could look so different and not only my children’s lives, but so many other families and children are dealing with this across the whole of England.”

Alongside the tear-jerking post, she added: “We have had some amazing news that screening is due to start in October this year, which is a huge step forward!

“But there’s still a big problem… it will only cover 72% of England. That means some babies won’t be screened simply because of where they live.

“A postcode lottery like that just isn’t fair. Every baby deserves the same chance, everybaby’ss life matters!

“On Monday 22nd June, the petition will be debated by MPs in Parliament. I’ll be there alongside @gileslomax from SMA UK and we’re hoping this debate will help push for screening to be available for every newborn across England.

“We’ll be arriving at 5pm on Monday, and it would mean so much to see as many of you there as possible. We’d love to get a photo together outside Parliament before we head inside.

“Please if you can, tag your MP in the comments and ask them to attend the debate and support universal newborn screening for SMA.

“The areas currently missing out on screening are: Bristol, Cambridge, Portsmouth, Leeds, Liverpool, Oxford.

“No baby should miss out because of their postcode. Let’s keep fighting until every newborn has the same opportunity. Thank you for standing with us every step of the way!”

Coronation Street icon Sally is not the only famous person in her family

Coronation Street legend Sally Dynevor has two famous daughters who TV fans may recognise.

Sally, 63, joined the ITV soap back in 1986 playing Sally Seddon, who later became famed for marrying mechanic Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell).

From a devastating cancer battle to her many failed romances on the street, Sally’s 40 years in Weatherfield have not been short of drama. Especially as her marriage to husband, Tim (Joe Duttine), hasn’t always been smooth sailing.

It’s fair to say Sally is a soap legend and has played a part in several big storylines, and is much-loved for her comedy appeal and status as a street busybody.

Away from the soap, actress Sally is loved up with her husband, Tim, whom she married in 1995. Tim is a successful screenwriter who has worked on the ITV soap Emmerdale, as well as on the TV series The Drowning and Desperate Measures. According to IMDb, Tim has written more than 2,000 episodes of Emmerdale between 1995 and 2016.

His last credited episode aired in January 2016 and followed Diane Sugden (Elizabeth Estensen) as she tried to sell her half of The Woolpack, while Adam Barton’s (Adam Thomas) emotional attachment to baby Johnny Woodfield became a problem.

Sally recently delighted fans after giving them a look into her private life with Tim. Taking to her Instagram, she shared several snaps from their recent trip to Iceland, where the happy couple was taking in the glorious sights.

She captioned the post: “Well, that was an adventure. What a wonderful, beautiful country Iceland is”. As expected, fans and co-stars were left gushing over the post.

Jane Danson commented: “Pretty special I really want to go again. Glad you had a fab time Sal”. Sally Ann Matthews penned: “Oh wowzers”, while Jude Riordan added: “I’m going next week!”

Sally and Tim share three children together, including daughters Phoebe, 31, and Hattie, 22, and son Sam, 29 Both of the girls have followed in their footsteps and are enjoying careers in television.

Who are Sally Dynevor’s famous daughters?

Hattie Dynevor stars on the BBC drama Waterloo Road, playing Libby Guthrie, the daughter of history teacher Neil (Neil Fitzmaurice), and has so far appeared in series 13 – 17.

She also appeared in the recently released gripping Netflix series Legends as Arabella, which also stars Steve Coogan and Tom Burke.

Hattie’s older sister, Phoebe, also launched an acting career on Waterloo Road, playing Siobhan Mailey between 2009 and 2020.

Bridgerton fans will also recognise the actress as Daphne, the wife of Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, played by Regé-Jean Page, between 2020 and 2022. Speaking to Collider, Phoebe opened up about a possible return to the Netflix period drama.

She said, “When the first season came out, they didn’t know what they needed to put in play. We were the ones that got away, in a certain way.

“I can only speak for myself, I would always come back if I was asked. I have not received a call. When I get that call, I will be there if I can.”

She has since starred in a long list of popular television shows, including The Musketeers, Dickensian, Snatch, and Ten Percent. Away from the small screen, Pheobe has starred in the movies The Colour Room, Inheritance, and Thrash.

Coronation Street airs weekdays on ITV and ITVX

POP star Mollie King has admitted that the birth of her daughter Annabella was a bittersweet moment for her family.

She and cricket star Stuart Broad welcomed Annabella, now three, in November 2022 – at a time Mollie’s father Stephen was dying from a brain tumour.

The Saturdays singer-turned-Radio 1 host has revealed that the sad circumstances gave her the incentive to book a C-section for the birth – to make sure Stephen would be able to meet his granddaughter before he passed.

Stephen died 10 days later, but got to meet Annabella thanks to Mollie’s decision.

Chatting to Giovanna Fletcher on the Happy Mum podcast this week, Mollie, 38, revealed that she learnt of her father’s illness when she was six months pregnant.

“It happened in August. And I had seen my dad that morning. We had gone out for a walk with my dog and with Stuart as well. And everything seemed pretty fine, pretty normal,” she recalled.

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“And then that evening, I had a call from my sister to say Dad’s not been very well at all – he’s gone into hospital.

“I was like, Oh my gosh. Basically, over the next few days, we got the news that he had a brain tumour, which is obviously shocking because there was nothing – there were no signs.

“And you just don’t know how to process it.”

Mollie went on: “I think that I was trying to really get my head around it and come to terms with it. But also, I’m in this stage of like – I’m pregnant, this is meant to be such a magical happy time.

“I was really worried that he wasn’t going to meet Annabella. I was like, I can’t have him not meet my kids.”

Mollie – who has since welcomed a second daughter – reflected on how her father had been a very “present granddad” for her nephews, and couldn’t picture her own child never knowing him.

“I was like, I just can’t have him not meet my little girl. It can’t be like that,” she continued. “And so… because of that… I’d booked in to have a C-section.

“I was like, I just need to know that she is going to come out at a safe time, but I need her to meet dad.”

Mollie admotted that, after she made the decision, she felt self-conscious telling the hospital staff of her reasons; but that they were happy to accommodate the C-section, booking her in for it right away.

Mollie was one fifth of The Saturdays – they released four studio albums and 18 singles between 2008 and 2014 before going on hiatus. Mollie then turned to radio presenting.

She welcomed her second daughter, Liliana, with Stuart in January 2025.