Jesy Nelson's sister has launched a passionate defence of the former Little Mix star after Perrie Edwards accused her ex-bandmate of refusing to take accountability for her behaviour. The row erupted after Perrie made some of her most candid comments yet about Jesy's departure from the chart-topping girl group, admitting she could not imagine the pair becoming friends again.
Perrie's Podcast Comments
Speaking on Jamie Laing's Great Company podcast, Perrie reflected on the breakdown of their relationship and suggested Jesy had been challenging to work with during her final years in the band. 'What annoys me the most, and again I have to be careful how I say this as I don't want to seem like a b****, but for me what upsets me the most is when situations like this happen and the other person doesn't take any accountability, that boils my blood,' she said. 'I am not blaming everything on you, I am not saying that she's this f****** monster and everything was her fault blah, blah, blah, but take some accountability for your actions and realise you were difficult, you did have difficult moments.'
Jade Nelson's Response
The remarks quickly made headlines, but it was Jesy's sister Jade Nelson who delivered the strongest response. Taking to Instagram, she said she had stayed silent for years while watching her sister endure relentless criticism and scrutiny. 'People say in life be the bigger person, keep quiet, but actually sometimes it doesn't do any good,' she wrote. 'I've watched my sister go through hell and back for many many years and very few will only ever understand what it's like to be tormented, bullied and pulled down for the way you look.'
Jade argued that outsiders often underestimate the impact sustained public criticism can have on someone's mental health. 'It's really easy to say just ignore it, but until you are in that situation yourself you will never ever really know how it will affect them,' she continued. She then referenced Jesy's past struggles with her mental health, which the singer has spoken about openly in documentaries and interviews. 'But I think when you attempt to end your life not once, but twice it shows the dark place you must be in and YES that was with a lack of support many many times.'
While acknowledging Jesy was not perfect, Jade insisted her sister had always accepted responsibility for her own shortcomings. 'As for not taking accountability, that is actually all she's done, she's fully aware she was hard work. She's fully aware she was hard to deal with but through it all if any other single person were struggling with a break up, anxiety, life, she was there! Isn't that what you do as friends or if you love someone?'
Jesy's Departure from Little Mix
Jesy shocked fans when she quit Little Mix in December 2020 after nine years in the group, citing the impact fame and life in the spotlight had taken on her mental health. At the time, Perrie, Jade Thirlwall, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock continued as a trio, releasing new music and touring before eventually pursuing solo careers.
Perrie's Comments on Zayn Malik
Elsewhere in the interview, Perrie claimed that her One Direction star former partner, Zayn Malik, who she was with from 2011 to 2015, 'overlapped' their relationship with model Gigi Hadid. Zayn, 33, and Gigi, 31, went on to welcome daughter Khai together; however, the pair called it quits in 2021.
Perrie said: 'When you go through heartbreak, it is hellish. It's the worst thing in the world. You can't eat. You can't sleep. You feel horrendous. You feel abandoned and you don't feel good enough and you feel like you've been left for something better or whatever it is. And then what makes it even worse is, I felt like the world was then looking at me, laughing at me. Not my fans, my fans were like, "we love you, we'll fight your corner no matter what." But I felt embarrassed. I felt horrified. It was awful.'
Perrie then detailed how quickly Zayn was able to move on from their relationship, after his debut single Pillowtalk, which was actually written about her, instead featured Gigi in the music video. 'I need to be careful how I say this, but there was, let's just say there was a bit of a… I'm just going to say it. So there was a bit of an overlap,' she explained. 'And I think when you're moving on with somebody else you always get on better. When you're the one left behind, that's when it's hard because it's like, "Oh s**t, they've left me for someone more beautiful than me, someone better than me." Whatever it is, that's how it felt at the time. And then you have a song that they've written about you, but then someone else is in the video.'
Gigi and Zayn were first linked in late 2015 after attending Justin Bieber's American Music Awards after-party, with reports claiming at the time that while they weren't 'boyfriend and girlfriend' yet, they were definitely into each other.
Perrie continued: 'It was one thing after the other, after the other. And I remember finding out about that and I just went in and my dad and my brother were at the house at the time and I just moved into my little bungalow in Surrey. So I was trying to get as far away as I could. And I just remember finding out about that and it was like the nail in the coffin and I thought this is all getting a bit much and then I started crying my eyes out.'
Jamie asked: 'How do you stay sane through that?' as Perrie admitted: 'I didn't. I had like serious breakdowns. Because it wasn't just the heartbreak I was dealing with. I was dealing with everybody looking at me and I felt ridiculed. I just couldn't cope with it. I hated it. I was breaking down in performances, which isn't like me at all. I was breaking down. I was crying constantly. I think I was depressed. And I know it sounds ridiculous, but I think it was this plus, this plus, this and everything on top. I had to be there for the girls. I had to be switched on. I had to power through for Little Mix, but I also just wanted to be left the f**k alone. But I also was getting followed every two seconds and asked about it 24/7. It was everywhere. And it was a lot. And like, this is the thing when people are like, "stop talking about it," I'm like, "but it really affected me."'
Perrie is now happily engaged to footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The pair share son Axel, four, and daughter Alanis, four months.
