Jesy Nelson

JESY Nelson has shared an adorable new video of her giggling twin girls.

The pop star’s mum Janice can be seen holding one of the twins who erupts into laughter as her nan nuzzles her face into her neck.

In another clip, Jesy, 34, can’t help but chuckle about her daughter’s little mullet hairstyle, while she likens the other to a Cabbage Patch doll as she runs her fingers through her hair.

Nine-month-old sisters Ocean Jade and Story Monroe look happy and well-loved in the sweet footage on Instagram.

The singer gave birth to her little girls prematurely at 31 weeks and is no longer with their music producer dad Zion Foster.

Last month, Jesy bravely revealed the tots have been diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 (SMA1).

brave mum

Jesy Nelson reveals new video of twins holding hands after breaking down in tears

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Jesy Nelson bursts into tears over struggle her twins are facing

The incurable condition causes muscles to waste away, but early detection and treatment can significantly improve prognosis. The girls have had gene therapy infusion to prevent their muscles from deteriorating, but damage already suffered cannot be reversed.

If untreated, the life expectancy of a baby with SMA Type 1 is two years.

Jesy and Zion have been told it is unlikely the girls will ever walk and may face serious breathing and swallowing difficulties.

Only around 50 children in the UK are born with the condition a year.

The former Little Mix star and mum-of-two has seen her Amazon documentary on her parenthood journey hit number one spot while continuing her fight for life-saving SMA tests.

Recently, she became emotional about the struggles her twins will face growing up.

Jesy revealed she “burst into tears” after receiving the special feeding chairs her daughters will need.

She admitted the arrival of the equipment brought home the reality of their condition.

She posted a photo of one of the special feeding chairs to her Instagram story.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy: Signs and symptoms

Spinal muscular atrophy is a disease which takes away a person’s strength and it causes problems by disrupting the motor nerve cells in the spinal cord.

This causes an individual to lose the ability to walk, eat and breathe.

There are four types of SMA – which are based on age.

• Type 1 is diagnosed within the first six months of life and is usually fatal.
• Type 2 is diagnosed after six months of age.
• Type 3 is diagnosed after 18 months of age and may require the individual to use a wheelchair.
• Type 4 is the rarest form of SMA and usually only surfaces in adulthood.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of SMA will depend on which type of condition you have.

But the following are the most common symptoms:

• Floppy or weak arms and legs

• Movement problems – such as difficulty sitting up, crawling or walking

• Twitching or shaking muscles

• Bone and joint problems – such as an unusually curved spine

• Swallowing problems

• Breathing difficulties

However, SMA does not affect a person’s intelligence and it does not cause learning disabilities.

How common is it?

The majority of the time a child can only be born with the condition if both of their parents have a faulty gene which causes SMA.

Usually, the parent would not have the condition themselves – they would only act as a carrier.

Statistics show around 1 in every 40 to 60 people is a carrier of the gene which can cause SMA.

If two parents carry the faulty gene there is a 1 in 4 (25 per cent) chance their child will get spinal muscular atrophy.

It affects around 1 in 11,000 babies.

It showed a pink cushioned chair with straps, a headrest, a tray, a foot stand, handlebars, and wheels.

She wrote: “So the girls need special feeding chairs that came yesterday, and I couldn’t help but burst into tears yesterday when I saw them.

“It just made me feel so sad as it’s just another reminder of another obstacle we have to tackle. Do any other SMA mummies feel this way?”

In her first TV interview since revealing the twins had SMA, Jesy tearfully told This Morning hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard: “I just want to be their mum. I don’t want to be a nurse. It’s hard.

“They’ve had their treatment, thank God. A one-off infusion. That puts the gene back in their body that they don’t have. It stops the muscles still working from dying. Any that have gone, you can’t regain them back.

“Now it’s down to constant physio. We’ve been told they’ll probably never walk or regain their neck strength. They’ll probably be in wheelchairs.”

Jesy revealed how the twins were going to Great Ormond Street Hospital twice a week.

“They’re still smiling, they’re still happy, and have each other. That’s the main thing I’m so grateful for because they could be doing this by themselves,” she continued. “All I can do is try my best to be there for them and give them positive energy, keep doing physio.

“My whole life has completely changed. If you came to my house, it looks like a hospital. My whole hallway is filled with medical stuff. It’s crazy how you can go from one extreme to the next.”

Since revealing her twins’ diagnosis, Jesy has called on the NHS to expand the standard heel prick test to screen for SMA1.

Large-scale trials are currently taking place, though Jesy is pushing Health Secretary Wes Streeting to speed up the process.

Jesy Nelson’s documentary has brought the X Factor winners back into the spotlight – but what are they up to these days?

Little Mix’s unexpected split has come back into conversation following Jesy Nelson’s recent admission that another band member tried to walk away first.

Fans of the iconic group were left heartbroken when Jesy announced she was quitting the band in 2020, citing mental health reasons.

She left her bandmates Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall to continue carrying the torch, but they soon went on a hiatus in 2022.

The X Factor winners’ legacy is still carried by their catchy tunes, which still attract over 16 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

In light of Jesy sharing behind-the-scenes truths about the band, let’s take a look at where they are today.

Jesy Nelson

Jesy has recently opened up about her life since leaving the band in a new Prime Video docuseries, Life After Little Mix.

The 34-year-old had a short-lived solo music career because her first single sparked backlash. She released ‘Boyz’ featuring Nicki Minaj in 2021, and followed it up with a music video.

Fans accused Jesy of ‘Blackfishing’ in the video, which featured her wearing makeup and fake tan that they claim made her appear Black or mixed-race. This scandal caused so much headache for the star that she vowed to never return to music in her new documentary.

Outside of music, Jesy was in a long-term relationship with ex fiancé Zion Foster, which came to an end earlier this month. The former couple welcomed twin daughters Ocean Jade and Story Monroe in May 2025.

Following their birth, the singer discovered they had a life-threatening condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 1. The rare genetic condition causes progressive muscle weakness. Jesy is now campaigning to raise awareness about the condition.

Perrie Edwards

Perrie focused on her family life following the group’s hiatus in May 2022, as she had just welcomed her first son Axel months prior.

The 32-year-old has since welcomed daughter Alanis with footballer fiancé Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. But she hasn’t forgotten about music. The mum-of-two released her debut album ‘Perrie’ last year and dropped new single ‘Woman in Love’ earlier this month.

Her first album featured the ballad ‘Same Place Different View,’ which is widely understood to be about her former bandmate Jesy.

The lyrics delve into the pain of losing a close friendship and how these losses can be just as devastating as romantic break ups.

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Leigh-Anne Pinnock

Leigh-Anne also married a famous footballer named Andre Gray. The couple share twins but have kept their identities private.

As for her music career, Leigh-Anne has just dropped her first studio album ‘My Ego Told Me To’ and will be touring this April.

Announcing her tour to fans, she wrote: “I’m going on tour baby!!! I can’t tell you how excited I am to perform this album live for you! Get me back to my happy place nowww! This one’s going to be so special!”

Jade Thirlwall

Jade is also embarking on a tour, which spans across the UK, Europe and the US. It comes after her first album ‘That’s Showbiz Baby!’ dropped in September.

The 33-year-old bagged two BRIT Award nominations for Best Pop Act and Artist of the Year following her debut.

As for her personal life, Jade is in a long-term relationship with Rizzle Kicks members Jordan Stephens.

Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix is streaming now on Prime Video.

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Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix, which is out on Amazon Prime, follows Jesy’s life after she left Little Mix back in 2020, including her reflections on fame, pressure, and her own personal truth about that period

Jesy Nelson’s Amazon Prime Video documentary, which is out today (Friday February 13) is a major new six-part series.

Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix follows Jesy’s life after she left Little Mix back in 2020, including her reflections on fame, pressure, and her own personal truth about that period. It’s her most candid account yet of why she departed the group and how she’s processed everything that happened. Another central focus of the documentary is Jesy’s pregnancy with her twin girls, Ocean Jade and Story. The cameras follow the 34-year-old Romford star through what became a high-risk pregnancy including complications like twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome and emergency medical moments.

After the birth is also covered, when Jesy’s daughters were diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) Type 1 — a severe, progressive genetic condition that causes muscle weakness.

Jesy uses the documentary to share her family’s real-time experience with this diagnosis and to raise awareness about it, including campaigning for expanded newborn screening in the NHS.

Besides the physical journey, the Amazon Prime series also revisits her personal and emotional challenges, including struggles with the pressure of fame, mental health battles, and what it’s been like stepping back from one of the UK’s biggest pop acts.

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Many fans have been excited to watch the documentary, however some have confessed online they ‘don’t think they can watch it’ for one reason – that it will leave them too emotional.

One person wrote: “I’m not gonna handle this well I’m already emotional about it.”

While another added: “My heart. I don’t even think I can watch this. I’m already crying.”

A third chimed in: “I’m gonna weep aren’t I,” while a fourth added: “She deserves to tell her side of the story after years of being silent.”

Jesy recently confessed that she considered leaving Little Mix after just two years as she struggled to cope with the pressure and the spotlight after winning The X Factor.

However, she went on to spend a decade in the band before quitting.

Jesy said: “That [leaving] presented itself far before I made that decision.

“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 added: “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?’”

Speak on the Great Company with Jamie Laing podcast, Jesy also praised her brother for his advice that ultimately kept her in the band and for 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,” she explained.

JESY Nelson has described the terrifying moment her mum raised the alarm about her twins’ SMA struggle.

The pop star secretly moved to Cornwall after giving birth to the two little girls following a high-risk pregnancy.

She says her mum Janice noticed Ocean and Story’s lack of leg movement on a trip to visit them.

Speaking on Jamie Laing’s podcast Great Company with Jesy Nelson, the former Little Mix star said:  “Me and Zion decided we wanted to move to Cornwall because our babies had been through all this trauma, and we just wanted them to grow up in a peaceful setting and just be around the sea and live like a kid.

“I honestly was not even taking notice of their legs because they’re my first set of children, so I don’t know how they should be moving their legs, or what they should and shouldn’t be doing anyway.

“Because we had just moved six hours away, my mum wasn’t with me every day.

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“I think she noticed how much it had deteriorated, and she said, ‘Jesy, they don’t move their legs very much. Have you noticed that?’

“She kept comparing them to my nephew, but I said George was a full time baby and because the twins were premature you can’t compare them.

“She said, ‘I know Jesy, but something’s not right’.

“My mum is such a such a worrier. She worries about everything – a bit like me, she thinks the worst in every situation.

“And so I just thought that was her over-worrying then a week went by, and I remember changing their nappy and just thinking ‘oh, god, they actually don’t move their legs at all’.

“For some reason they just stopped.”

Fearing her mum was right, Jesy booked to see a paediatrician straight away.

After being told the babies needed blood tests and a brain scan, Jesy left the doctors in tears.

She was later told the identical twins have Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 — the most severe form of a rare disease affecting muscle strength and movement.

Jesy is now working tirelessly to raise awareness of SMA and campaigning for the condition to be added to the NHS newborn heel-prick test, which currently screens for ten other conditions.

She spoke to The Sun about the diagnosis and her new new six-part docuseries on Prime Video, which follows her journey into motherhood as she reflects back on her time in Little Mix.

It’s the first time she’s opened up about quitting the band in 2020.

Read our full interview with Jesy about hope of reconciling with her former Little Mix friends and mending her relationship with Simon Cowell here.

• Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix will be aired on Prime Video from February 13.
• Listen to Great Company with Jesy Nelson whereever you get your podcasts.

FORMER Little Mix star Jesy Nelson has spoken candidly about the ‘heartbreaking’ health challenges her twin daughters have faced.

The singer and campaigner has opened up about how her babies, Ocean Jade and Story Monroe, were failed to be diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA Type 1) despite numerous consultations with healthcare professionals.

In an interview on Sky News’ The UK Tonight programme, the former girl band star admitted that the condition was only picked up on when they were six months old – by her mum.

Although health visitors and GPs performed regular checks, the early symptoms of the rare genetic disease – specifically a lack of leg movement – went unnoticed.

The 34-year-old teared up as she explained her campaign for the UK to include SMA screening in the routine newborn heel prick test.

Speaking to host Sarah-Jane Mee, she said: “People are starting to take notice and take it seriously, but it never should have took for me to come along for it to be taken seriously and that’s the part that makes me feel so angry.

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“This isn’t just anything. This is a matter of life or death for someone’s child and who gets to decide that?

“Who has the right to decide whether my child is going to be in a wheelchair or not when we’ve literally had three life-changing treatments since 2018?

“The fact that it’s still a thing and we’re still having to scream and shout about it is just mad to me.”

She promised: “I will not stop on my socials talking about it. Trying to do as much TV… yes, it’s big but there’ll still be lots of other people that don’t know about this, so I’ve got to stay noisy.

Following a conversation with UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting, she admitted: “It is so difficult… it’s like, yes, I had that open and honest conversation with you and you said all the right things, but what are you going to do now?

“Now that I’m not in front of you, are you going to continue?”

She reflected on the missed opportunities during early check-ups and urged: “The fact that there were healthcare visitors around my house a lot and we took them to the GP and not one of them saw any of the signs.

“Thank God for my mum, because I dread to think what position I’d be in now if my mum hadn’t have said anything to me.

“It’s one of them things that I constantly go over and I have to sometimes stop myself from doing it because I will drive myself insane.”

Jesy added that the painful diagnosis has changed her outlook for her daughters’ future.

She said: “I don’t want people to think that if you’ve got disability that that defines you because it definitely doesn’t.

“But I’ll openly say if I could have it the other way, I definitely would. Why wouldn’t I want my children to walk and live a fulfilled life?

“I just pray that it does get changed and it does become part of the heel prick test, because the amount of heartbreak and hurt that I’ve had to endure, I’ll never be able to explain it.”

The Boyz hitmaker was previously diagnosed with twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS).

The high-risk pregnancy included a 10-week hospital stay and life-saving emergency surgery.

The Brit Award-winner has launched a petition to force the Government to enforce a non- invasive £4 blood test at birth.

Symptoms of SMA depend on which type of condition, but the most common include floppy or weak arms and legs, as well as swallowing and breathing problems.

If untreated, the life expectancy of a baby with SMA Type 1 is two years and intervention is ­considered critical in limiting long-term impacts.

It could help avoid 33 babies a year left needing a wheelchair for life.

The former Little Mix star has had a tough time after she split from her fiance Zion Foster.

Jesy and Zion first began dating in 2022 after years of friendship.

In January 2025 they announced they were expecting identical twins.

The couple parted ways following the birth of their twin daughters, but remain close as co-parents.