Jesy Nelson has admitted that she used to starve herself for days on end, after trolls branded her “fat”.
The Little Mix star has opened up about how trolling has affected her life in a new documentary for the BBC – which will air this Thursday at 9pm.
The singer was targeted by online bullies after Little Mix shot to fame on the 2011 series of The X Factor.
Speaking to Glamour ahead of the documentary’s premiere, Jesy said: “I just wanted to be Jesy. I didn’t want to be Jesy the fat one.”
“I wanted people to see me as normal, so I punished myself. I starved myself. If I did eat, I hated myself, I’d punish myself and make sure I didn’t eat for four days.”
“It was horrible, a vicious circle,” she confessed. “I got used to people calling me fat because I was like whatever I’ve seen it so much.”
“People started going in on what my face looked like with memes and people would chop my head off in group photos and replace it with a monster or ET or a sloth,” Jesy said.
“I became a joke to everyone, and it really knocked my confidence. I never experienced anything like it in my life.”
In the documentary, Jesy will also open up about the moment she tried to take her own life back in November 2013 – after the online abuse became too much for her to handle.
Jesy said: “I just remember thinking: ‘I just need this to go away, I’m going to end this.’ I remember going to the kitchen and just took as many tablets as I could. Then I laid in bed for ages and kept thinking: ‘Let it happen. Hurry up.'”
Thankfully, Jesy was saved because her then boyfriend found her and called an ambulance.
Jesy Nelson: Odd One Out will air on BBC1 at 9pm on Thursday.
