Leigh-Anne Pinnock has addressed Jesy Nelson’s “traumatic” departure from Little Mix in her new autobiography.
According to excerpts obtained by The Sun, the 32-year-old has revealed that she received therapy after the singer’s shock exit from the girl group.
Jesy announced she was leaving the band on December 14, 2020, leaving fans heartbroken.
The remaining Little Mix members – Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall – carried on without Jesy until they went on an indefinite hiatus in May 2022.
In her upcoming autobiography Believe, Leigh-Anne writes how Jesy’s sudden departure left the remaining bandmates traumatised, and how the difficult situation brought the trio closer together.
“We were a family, the four of us were like sisters, and we had been that way since we were teenagers, so it’s not an over-exaggeration to say that losing a member was a traumatic experience,” the mother-of-two wrote.
“When you have felt so much love and support with another person over such a long time and then that suddenly disappears you never fully get to understand why it hurts.”
The All My Love singer wrote about how the messy situation is now behind her, as she recalled how therapy helped her get through the experience.
“Therapy helped me, helped all of us, process what had happened and manage the emotions that came with it.”
“All of that messiness is now so far behind me that it’s not even worth commenting on. We have moved forwards into something even brighter and stronger,” the star added.
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After Jesy left the band, the trio went on to sell out a 25-date arena tour, and became the first ever girl band to win the Best British Group at the BRIT Awards in 2021.
Speaking of the her bond with Perrie and Jade, Leigh-Anne said: “We clung to each other in those last months.”
“Jade and Perrie were the only people who really knew what it felt like, who knew what we had been through. They just got it.”
Leigh-Anne also addressed her online row with rapper Nicki Minaj in the book, branding it “one of the most difficult moments” in her career.
After Jesy left Little Mix, the singer collaborated with Nicki on her debut solo single ‘Boyz’ in October 2021.
Jesy came under fire for the music video, as many accused her of altering her appearance to seem Black or racially ambiguous – otherwise known as “blackfishing”.
Amid the controversy, messages between Instagram user @nohun_ and Leigh-Anne Pinnock were leaked.
According to screenshots posted online, Leigh-Anne allegedly asked NoHun to make a video about Jesy “being a black fish”.
The alleged messages from Leigh-Anne also accused Jesy of blocking her and her Little Mix bandmates, branding her a “horrible person”.
Weighing in on the drama, Nicki said during an Instagram Live: “Sweetheart, take them text messages and shove it up your f***ing ass, because when you do clown shit I got to treat you and talk to you like you a clown.”
“If you was in this woman’s group and you ain’t talk about this s**t for 10 years, and as soon as you see she got a video coming out with Nicki Minaj and Puffy, now you sending text messages and all this s**t…”
“Print those text messages out, bust your ass open and shove them up your motherf***ing ass. Stop trying to hurt people and kill people’s lives and careers, this is the way people feed their families. Stop – if you want a solo career, baby girl, just say that.”
The rapper continued: “You can go out and put your own music. We’re gonna support you and love you. That’s it. You don’t have to attack someone else. If that’s how you felt, why were you kiki’ing with her and being in the videos with her for 10 years?”
“Now, all of a sudden she’s not in a video with you, you have some negative, evil thing to do and say? Stop.”
“Only jealous people do things like this. It makes you a big jealous bozo. I love you guys but please don’t do this. Let these people be miserable all by themselves.”
Jesy, who was also on the Instagram Live, didn’t say anything during Nicki’s rant, but occasionally laughed at some of her comments.
Nicki then took to Twitter to slam Leigh-Anne even further, writing: “JeLeigh btchs actin real messy…”
“If you know someone has been suicidal from bullying in the past, why try to get a bunch of ppl to bully them again about smthng else, on an even bigger scale? Shame on you— that’s rlly sad. You don’t know what ppl can deal with.”
Writing in her new book, Leigh-Anne admitted the ordeal left her with “crippling anxiety” as she recovered from a caesarean section, having had twins with her now-husband, footballer Andre Gray.
“It was one of the most difficult moments I can remember throughout my career,” the singer explained.
“I was a new mum dealing with the mental and physical aftermath of pregnancy and birth, flooded with hormones and emotion, and severely sleep deprived, and on top of all that I also had to deal with this.”
“In the moment it felt truly awful. As much as I tried to avoid Instagram and Twitter I kept seeing the comments and the debates that were taking place on every platform.”
“Even when I put my phone away and refused to look at it there was still this underlying anxiety about what was happening online,” the Little Mix member added.
While Leigh-Anne detailed the tumultuous situation with ex band member Jesy, the star noted that she still cherishes the time the band had as a foursome.
“Now, I can see that none of what has happened since the split takes anything away from what we had.”
“That love we felt for each other was valid and real, no matter what came afterwards.”
