Little Mix star Jesy Nelson has candidly opened up about her battle with self confidence and her weight.
The Shout Out To My Ex singer, 29, shared a throwback snap of her lying on a gym floor with her figure on display.
Rather than using the snap as any form of motivation, Jesy explained to fans that she was still not happy despite hitting a size 8.
Pouring out her heart to her fans, Jesy wrote: “I just saw this picture pop up on my feed and it made me feel so sad.
“On the day this picture was taken, I remember going to the gym with my manager and I stood in the mirror and I said, ‘god I’m so fat I just want my legs to be like this’.
Jesy Nelson shared this throwback snap alongside a heartfelt message of support for her fans (Image: jesy nelson/Instagram)
“And I pulled my skin around to try and create a thigh gap because I genuinely believed that being skinny would make me happier.
“And even when I got to a size 8 from starving myself, I still wasn’t happy.”
In her National Television Award winning BBC documentary Odd One Out, Jesy admitted she was in floods of tears shortly after Little Mix won The X Factor due to vile online trolls mocking her weight.
Jesy Nelson has begged fans not to seek online validation from strangers (Image: jesy nelson/Instagram)
Explaining how she went to extremes to please those around her, the starlet continued: “I mentally bullied myself everyday to try to please other people.
“It’s taken me 10 years to realise that I’m the only person I need to please.
“As humans we find it so easy to pay other people compliments but yet we find it so hard to be kind to ourselves because it’s so much easier to pick ourselves apart than to find the things we love about ourselves.
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“So if you’re someone who is feeling like I was, please don’t waste years of your life seeking approval from others, seek approval from yourself.”
Sending a resounding message of positivity, the chart-topper signed off the post: “Be your number one fan.
“You are the one in control of your happiness and you are the only one of you in this world and that’s pretty fucking powerful.”
Jesy called time on her days Little Mix at the end of last year after struggling with her mental health.
Announcing the decision via a statement, Jesy said: “To all my Mixers, the past nine years in Little Mix has been the most incredible time of my life.
The truth is recently being in the band has really taken a toll on my mental health. I find the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard.
“There comes a time in life when we need to reinvest in taking care of ourselves rather than focusing on making other people happy, and I feel like now is the time to begin that process.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
