Jesy Nelson is Glamour UK’s October cover star. In the corresponding interview, published on Wednesday (Oct. 5), the former Little Mix member spoke about how she’s been prioritizing her mental health since leaving the highly successful girl group and revealed that she hasn’t talked to its remaining girls — Perrie Edwards, Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock — since her departure in December 2020.
“I haven’t spoken to the girls,” the singer said. “It is weird because for so many years we were as close as sisters, together every hour of the day for weeks, sharing beds, laughing, crying, just 24/7, the four of us together and then…nothing.”
Nelson explained she hasn’t had any contact with the girls, even in light Pinnock and Edwards both welcoming children in August. “No. I’ve sent a few texts, but that’s it. I can’t explain it, it’s like there has to be this distance. We were so close so you can’t do in-between, there has to be space,” she explained. “Hopefully at some point in the future we can all come back together. I love them. They are my sisters in so many ways, but for the time being we just don’t talk.”
Nelson announced her departure from Little Mix last year. “Being in the band has really taken a toll on my mental health,” she wrote in a statement about her departure. “I find the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard.”
Since leaving the group, Nelson has been able to maintain a positive self-image. “I feel in control of my life, I don’t have that constant anxiety, the feeling I might be letting someone down or voicing an opinion that won’t fit with the others. It’s so completely liberating and that has been massive for my state of mind,” the 30-year-old said, adding that the removal of her Instagram photos from her time in Little Mix provided her with relief. “After that I felt like a weight had been lifted…I hated looking at those old pictures when I was unhappy or just looking awful. They’ve gone. That Jesy has gone.”
Nelson is gearing up to release “Boyz,” her first single as a solo artist, alongside Nicki Minaj. In the interview, the singer explained that her former relationship with actor Sean Sagar served as inspiration for the song.
“I can’t help liking bad boys,” she said “It’s actually not normal. But I’m going to get quite deep. My dad wasn’t the best role model. I never had a dad around. He was always in and out of prison, so were my brothers. I don’t know if it’s because of the way I’ve been brought up or I don’t know what it is, but like I’ve tried nice boys and it doesn’t work out, I get bored.”
“Boyz” will arrive on streaming platforms on Friday, Oct. 8.
