Little Mix star Jesy Nelson has opened up on why she needed to take a break from the band and explained when she reached “breaking point”.
The news dominated headlines when it was announced the star had decided to step back from her music career in the biggest most-successful girl band in the UK at the moment.
Now the 29-year-old star has said that lockdown played a huge part in helping her to realise she needed to focus on herself and her mental health as a priority before the band and its other members Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards and Leigh-Anne Pinnock.
Speaking in a new interview, Jesy said: “The last music video we did (Sweet Melody) was the breaking point.
“We’d been in lockdown, and it was the first time I could have a break and be at home around people that I love.
“It was the happiest I’d ever felt and I didn’t realise that until I went back to work,” the singer told Cosmopolitan UK. “I immediately became a different person.”
The former X Factor star went on to explain that whenever the band had music videos to film she suffered from anxiety because she took it so seriously and felt a pressure to lose weight.
Jesy told the publication if she didn’t feel happy with her own body image in the camera she became paralysed by performance anxiety.
(Image: YouTube)
While filming the video for Little Mix’s newest hit track, the band member experienced just that, particularly because she’d put on weight being stuck at home over the course of 2020 like so many in the UK.
Suddenly hearing she had to record the video, which featured skimpy outfits and racy dance moves, in a matter of a couple of weeks, the star said she panicked and went on a crash diet, resulting in a panic attack on set.
She pointed out that there is a scene in the video where she’s not in it, which she said was when her exact breaking point occurred.
The star was left “sobbing” in her dressing room, where a close friend then came and gave her some hard truths.
“‘This has got to stop,” the person told her. “‘You can’t keep doing this to yourself.
“‘You’re going to end up where you were before,'” Jesy recalled them saying, and it was like a light went on.
The star then realised she needed to change her focus and start “taking care” of herself, and even admitted her misery was taking its toll on the other three girls in the band, as she said it wasn’t “nice” for them to be around someone who didn’t want to be there.
Like what you see? Then fill your boots…
There’s MUCH more where that came from! Want all the jaw-dropping stories from the world of showbiz and up to the minute news from TV and soaps?
Well, we’ve got you covered with our showbiz, TV and soaps newsletters – they’ll drop straight into your inbox and you can unsubscribe whenever you like.
We’ll bring you the inside track from telly expert Ed Gleave and soap specialist Sasha Morris. Oh, and your daily fix of Piers, Katie Price, Demi Rose and all your other Daily Star favs.
You can sign up here – you won’t regret it…
The break was a breath of fresh air for Jesy, who told the magazine she’d spent so long worrying about what other people thought and trying not to let them down.
The starlet, who looks happier than ever, has come to the conclusion the only person she should worry about is herself, and stepping back from the spotlight ensured she wouldn’t end up where she was five years ago, when the star was suffering with intense media scrutiny.
Read the full interview in the June issue of Cosmopolitan – on sale 6th May 2021
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
