Jesy Nelson says fame stole her innocence – and has put her off ever having children
Little Mix’s Jesy Nelson spoke honestly about the pressure of fame, just a day after pulling out of The Search final due to a mystery illness
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Jesy Nelson says her experience of becoming famous at a young age has put her off ever having children – because she would hate to pass on her body insecurities.
The Little Mix star, who yesterday pulled out the band’s reality show The Search final, has spoken in the past about the tolls fame took on her mental health, including a suicide attempt that thankfully failed.
And now she says the torment was so great that she no longer wants to have children.
In a raw and emotional interview with the Mail On Sunday’s You magazine, Jesy said fame stole her innocence.
“I guess we’re taking steps forward, but I fear for my [future] daughters?” her bandmate Leigh-Anne Pinnock told the publication.
“It makes me not want to have a kid,” Jesy agreed. “Those insecurities that we all have now because of social media, imagine having that embedded in you as a child?”
Jesy – who alongside Leigh-Anne, Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall came to fame off the back of their X Factor win in 2011 – went on to warn about the trappings of fame and money.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to sit here and say we’ve got a terrible life, because we haven’t, but I do think our innocence was taken from us,” she admitted.
Jesy starred in her own BBC documentary last year, which delved in her mental health battle and suicidal urges sparked by cruel online trolls – including racist extremist Katie Hopkins.
But with the benefit of hindsight – as well as their strong friendship – Jesy has been able to move on from the disgusting comments.
Even Piers Morgan, who branded the bandmates “foul-mouthed, talentless, clothes-allergic little dimwits” when they posed naked to highlight the issue of trolling, is no longer able to get a rise out of the women.
“I take Piers with a pinch of salt,” Jesy went on.
“He does it to cause drama, so I take no notice. When we won The X Factor, we didn’t look like a generic girl band: we’re all different shapes and sizes, we didn’t dress sexy, so immediately everyone was, ‘What’s this?’. Usually, when you see a girl band, they’re perfection, they have six-packs – and we didn’t.”
Leigh-Anne, who earlier this year got engaged to her footballer boyfriend Andre Grey, pointed out that their fellow X Factor stars One Direction didn’t get “the s**t” thrown at them “because they’re men”.
“As soon as it’s girls, they think, ‘Oh you slag,'” she added.
It comes hours after Jesy pulled out of the final episode of Little Mix: The Search because she was feeling unwell – although she’s yet to speak about her illness.
She was also due to host tonight’s MTV European Music Awards alongside the other three Little Mixers, but has also pulled out without further explanation.
MirrorCeleb