21 August 2023 , 11:27
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Leigh-Anne Pinnock has celebrated another anniversary for her band Little Mix - but there was a very noticeable Jesy Nelson shaped hole in her commemorative social media posts.
The 31-year-old chart topping star shot to fame back in 2011 when she was manufactured into a pop band alongside 30-year-olds Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards while contestants on season eight of The X Factor. The trio were of course a foursome - with 32-year-old Jesy also being a member of the original line up.
But Jesy sensationally quit the band in 2020 revealing she was struggling with the mental health stress of being in a girl group - and she later attempted to launch a solo career of her own. The dramatic exit of the singer may have left deep scars on the remaining members of Little Mix, who went on hiatus last year.
And this is no more obvious due to the way Leigh-Anne marked the groups’ dozen years in the spotlight over the weekend. Taking to Instagram Stories, the Sweet Melody singer shared a touching note about the band.
Leigh-Anne Pinnock wished her Little Mix bandmates a happy 12 year anniversary on social media (@leighannepinnock/Instagram)
Jesy Nelson was very obviously omitted from the celebration posts (@leighannepinnock/Instagram)Leigh-Anne wrote online: “My angels - Happy 12 years ladies” alongside two red heart emojis. The image she shared alongside the note was of a group hug between Leigh-Anne, Jade and Perrie - with Jesy nowhere to be seen.
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Relations have been fraught between Jesy and the lasting Little Mix members since she quit the group to pursue her own solo career. Differences boiled over in 2021 when Jesy released the music video for her debut song, Bad Boys, with accusations of blackfishing and indefensible racism being levied at the star.
Jesy and the band took swipes at each other as the backlash against the Bad Boys video raged. Jesy had been accused of darkening her skin tone in the video and including stereotyped interpretations of black culture in the video - which included a verse by rapper Nicki Minaj and a cameo from rap icon Sean Combs.
It has been a dozen years since the Little Mix ladies found fame via The X Factor (Ken McKay/Talkback Thames/REX/Shutterstock)Jesy and Nicki appeared in an Instagram Live video amid the backlash - with the Super Bass singer branding Jesy’s former bandmates “clowns”. While Little Mix released a song called Cut You Off which is believed to be about Jesy.
The lyrics state: “Don’t think I believe ya, is the grass out there really greener? Are you happy now? I know you think you’re all that, it’ll be so sweet when you crawl back, but it’s too late now.”