When Fifth Harmony rose to prominence on the U.S. version of The X-Factor in 2012, the comparisons between them and Little Mix, who debuted on U.K.’s The X-Factor one year prior, were aplenty. Eventually, rumors of feuding and a rivalry between the two groups began, and the gals from Little Mix finally addressed the situation during a virtual interview with BuzzFeed on May 13. During a game of ‘Truth of Wine,’ the girl group was asked if they had a rivalry with 5H, and Jesy Nelson was first to chime in.
“I’d say at one point, we did,” she admitted. When the other girls seemed surprised by the response, she continued, “What?! We can say that! We always loved them. We never didn’t like them as people.” However, Perrie Edwards then stepped in to clarify. “There wasn’t a rivalry, as such, because we loved them all and we did like Fifth Harmony,” she explained. “But when they came up, we were like…oh no! Another girl band! That kind of vibe. I don’t think there was ever really a rivalry because they were so different. I think if they were doing the same stuff we were doing, and we were similar…I don’t know. But I feel like we never thought it was an actual rivalry.”
Jade Thirlwall added that there was some tension between the groups, but it was nothing personal. “We never had a problem with the girls,” she said. “I think it was more just a bit awkward that we were on the same label.” Understandable!
While Little Mix is still together and thriving, especially overseas, Fifth Harmony decided to take a hiatus in May 2018 to pursue solo projects. There has been no talk of a reunion just yet. Meanwhile, the Little Mix gals admitted in their BuzzFeed interview that there have been no discussions about anyone leaving the group to go solo at this point. Jesy admitted that she believes there will be a time when the ladies do some solo work eventually, but she “think[s] they’ll always come back together as Little Mix.”