Jesy Nelson is taking ‘extended time off’ from girl band Little Mix due to ‘private medical reasons.’ Jesy was absent from an appearance for ‘Children in Need’ last Friday, as well as the finals for ‘The Search’ and the ‘MTV European Music Awards,’ both hosted by famous girl band. It has been confirmed she will be taking an extended period off from the group due to her illness.
On Tuesday night, Simon Jones who manages LittleMix’s PR, issued a statement on twitter on behalf of Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards and Leigh-Anne Pinnock. The tweet read, “Jesy is having extended time off from Little Mix for private medical reasons. We will not be issuing any further comment currently and ask media to please respect her privacy at this time.”
Little Mix Statement:
Jesy is having extended time off from Little Mix for private medical reasons. We will not be issuing any further comment currently and ask media to please respect her privacy at this time.
— Simon Jones (@simonjonespr) November 17, 2020
At present it is unknown as to what Jesy’s illness is. Jesy has been an original band member since they were formed on the ‘X-Factor’ in 2011. They signed under Simon Cowell’s label ‘Syco Music’ and Little Mix soon became the most popular girl band in the UK and globally. They are recognised for their strong live performances, harmonic vocals and energetic dance routines, as well as their empowerment to young women.
As well as hosting the European MTV Music Awards, the group were nominated for Best Group, Best Pop and Best Virtual Live. They shared on their instagram account their excitement saying, “IT’S HAPPENING! We are SO excited to announce that we’re going to be hosting the @mtvema’s on November 8th. This is gonna be so much fun!”
Can you believe tonight’s the FINAL of @LMTheSearch!! We’re unbelievably proud of all 6 bands and we can’t wait to see the final 4 perform! We’re so sad Jesy won’t be able to join us tonight, but we have such an amazing show in store for you all x pic.twitter.com/JRKL008VXL
— Little Mix (@LittleMix) November 7, 2020
They sent out another tweet before the final night of their ‘Little Mix The Search’ show saying, “Can you believe tonight’s the FINAL of @LMTheSearch!! We’re unbelievably proud of all 6 bands and we can’t wait to see the final 4 perform! We’re so sad Jesy won’t be able to join us tonight, but we have such an amazing show in store for you all x.”
Jesy previously featured in the TV documentary ‘Odd One Out,’ where she spoke about her struggles with her body image and online bullying. The Daily Mail reported that she, “She talked in depth for the first time about how trolls, who mocked her over her looks and weight, triggered her into attempting to take her own life in 2013.”
After the show was aired, some fans were sympathetic towards Jessy for the amount of online bullying she had encountered and others commented on how she had inspired them and how brave she was, getting through the online abuse and suggested the episode should be showed in schools to help educate others.
Jesy has been quiet on her social media and not posted anything since October 31st, which is unusual for her. She has told The Guardian, “that therapy, a strong community and withdrawing from Twitter allowed her to distance herself from her public image and slowly start “to feel normal again”.
Little Mix have just released their 6th album, ‘Confetti’ which reached Number 2 in the UK Album charts behind Kylie Minogue’s ‘Disco.’ Their tour next year, has been rearranged for April due to the current pandemic, however it is uncertain as to whether Jesy will be joining them.
