One month after taking an “extended leave” from Little Mix, Jesy Nelson announced that she’s parting way with the girl group for good. “The past nine years in Little Mix has been the most incredible time in my life,” the 29-year-old singer wrote December 14 on Instagram. “We have achieved things I never thought possible. From winning our first Brit Award to our sold-out shows at the O2. Making friends and fans all over the world. I can’t thank you all enough from the bottom of my heart for making me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. You have always been there to support and encourage me, and I will never ever forget it.”
“I need to spend some time with the people I love, doing things that make me happy,” Jesy added. “I’m ready to embark on a new chapter in my life – I’m not sure what it’s going to look like right now, but I hope you’ll still be there to support me. I want to say thank you to everyone involved in our journey. All the hard work and dedication that went into making us a success.” She concluded by telling Little Mix’s fans how much she loves them. Here’s five things you should know about Jesy after her exit from the group:
1. She rose to fame after Little Mix won The X Factor in 2011. Little Mix was the first girl group to win the long-running talent competition series, and went on to have major success. Jesy, Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock have released hits like “Shout out to My Ex,” “Black Magic”, “Woman Like Me”, and “Secret Love Song.” All bangers!
2. She took “extended leave” from Little Mix in November. Ten days after missing the live finale of Little Mix: The Search and the EMAs due to “feeling unwell,” the girl group’s spokesperson revealed that Jesy was dealing with an unspecified medical crisis. “Jesy is having extended time off from Little Mix for private medical reasons,” Simon Jones tweeted on November 17. “We will not be issuing any further comment currently and ask media to please respect her privacy at this time.”
3.She’s an anti-bullying activist. Jesy and BBC 3 released Odd One Out, a documentary about the effects cyberbullying has on mental health, in September 2019. In the documentary, Jesy talked about her own struggles with mental health issues, including depression that “spiraled out of control” after she was body shamed online. She described depression as, “like constantly feeling heartbroken.” Jade Thirlwall said in the doc that Little Mix didn’t know what to do: “we just had to watch this amazing, funny girl become a bit like a broken doll – it was horrible.”
4. She is currently dating actor Sean Sagar. Jesy and Sean, 30, sparked romance rumors in July, which her team promptly shut down. But one month later, they made it Instagram official, with the actor showing off her muscles on her feed. She captioned the photo of Sean in a tank top, “god I’m a lucky girl,” adding a heart-eyes emoji. If that weren’t clear enough, she posted another photo of herself watching his film The Gentleman, captioned, “That’s my baby.” The two have apparently quarantined together during the pandemic. The new relationship comes several months after her split from longtime boyfriend, Chris Hughes.
5. She was previously engaged to Jake Roche. Jesy almost married the Push Baby singer, 28, but the couple ultimately broke up in 2016. Jake popped the question in 2015 by surprising Jesy during a Little Mix soundcheck. He brought out Ed Sheeran, who sang their favorite song, “Tenerife Sea”. Sadly, they went their separate ways after realizing they were at different places in life, and their busy schedules often kept them apart.