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Jesy Nelson has revealed she tried to take her own life just days before she quit Little Mix, as she laid bare the mystery behind her departure from the band.
In her new docuseries, Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix, which released February 13 on Prime Video, Jesy, 34, bravely discussed her mental health troubles.
Overcome with emotion, Jesy recalled feeling ‘really alone’ after she claimed her bandmates Perrie Edwards, Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock ignored her cry for help in the lead up to her overdose.
Jesy left the group in 2020.
It was the second time Jesy had tried to commit suicide following an overdose in 2013, which she discussed in her BBC documentary Jesy Nelson: Odd One Out.
Jesy explained: ‘I was so sad. I was so down. I knew after coming out of hospital that I mentally couldn’t do it [be in the band] any more.
Speaking about the painful breakdown of Little Mix days before she tried to take her own life, Jesy said: ‘I sat everyone down to explain how I was feeling and I remember one of the responses being, “Are you done now? Is that it?”
‘She [one of the girls] was like, “Can I go now?” That made me feel really alone. I felt like there was no point. That no one cared.’
It was Jesy’s mother Janice who raised the alarm after Jesy fell unconscious while on the phone to her.
Janice explained: ‘For a few days before, she had just been really down and not talking much. She wanted to be on her own quite a lot.
‘I got a gut feeling that something wasn’t right. I kept ringing and ringing, but there was no answer. She eventually answered the phone and the way she was talking was really slurry.
‘I heard the phone drop and didn’t hear anything else – I knew she’d done something.’
Speaking about the breakdown of Little Mix’s friendship, Janice said the band ‘wasn’t there’ for Jesy.
She said: ‘I can see why they [the other Little Mix members] did get angry at times.’
She continued: ‘It’s hard to work with someone who is always down when you are always happy.
‘But I personally believe that at Jesy’s lowest of low times, the girls were not really there for her and I think that’s why she’s so sad now.’
After Jesy’s second suicide attempt, Janice said: ‘I kept cuddling her and said, “Right, that’s it now. No more. You’ve got to stop doing what makes you unhappy”.’
It was at that moment in hospital recovery, Jesy made the decision to quit.
At the time of Jesy’s overdose, she was meant to appear in the final of Little Mix’s BBC talent show The Search.
Host Chris Ramsey told fans at the time that Jesy had fallen ill as he explained her sudden absence from the show.
After seeking legal advice, Jesy said her lawyers delivered the news to her bandmates before she had the chance.
Jesy said: ‘I think they felt really hurt about that and it should never have played out like that. I didn’t get my opportunity to explain why I couldn’t do this anymore. I feel mad that that was taken away from me.’
She continued: ‘I got myself up mentally and was like, right, I want to have a chat with the girls now, I wanna chat to them and tell them why, I did what I did, like how I’ve been feeling. Just really explain to them, try to make them understand how I was feeling.
‘And then my manager called, and she was like, “so I’ve spoke to the girls and they are happy to chat to you, but they don’t feel comfortable being in a room with you unless there is a therapist there”.
‘I just remember being like, “what? I’ve just come out of hospital, like this is the time I need you the most”.
‘I don’t know, I just didn’t feel like they were my sisters.’
Jesy explained: ‘Eventually there was a phone call. It was really awkward and so weird. It was like talking to strangers. It was the most uncomfortable phone call of my life. No one knew what to say.
‘And that’s the last time I ever spoke to them as a group. It’s been five years now and every time I think about it, I think, was it them or was it the management? I’ll never know.’
Later on in the docuseries, Jesy was asked if she ever sees herself reuniting with the band.
She replied: ‘I really don’t know. I see both sides. I see why they would be sad and hurt.’
Jesy continued: ‘They reached out to me when I was pregnant, it was lovely because I never thought that would happen.
‘It made me really emotional. We’re grown women now, we’ve got kids, and I just think there are so many more important things in life. It’s just one of those things that need to be put to bed now.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Little Mix’s Perrie, Leigh-Anne and Jade’s representatives for comment.
The documentary also focused on Jesy’s relationship with her ex-fiancé Zion Foster.
Jesy and Zion, 27, ended their engagement last month following a difficult period caring for their daughters at the beginning of the year.
She said at the time that after four years together, they would remain ‘united as co-parents’ despite ending their romantic relationship.
In the show, Jesy’s mother Janice offered her thoughts on the doomed romance in scenes that were filmed months before their split.
She shared her initial opinion on Zion, stating that she didn’t think he was the one.
Janice said: ‘In the beginning, like I kept saying to Jesy, “he’s not the one for you, he’s too young, and he’s not for you.”‘
Yet, Jesy’s mum later clarified that her opinion of the rapper has changed as he ‘proved himself’.
She said: ‘I feel horrible now, like he has just proved himself one billion per cent.
‘He’s had such a positive calmness on her life. I think they’ve definitely found their soulmate in each other.’
In another scene, Janice shared her concerns about anyone who dates Jesy, as she questions their true intentions.
She said: ‘I do always worry because she’s got money, got a nice home, she’s got quite a lot for someone so young.
‘So I do worry with any boy she meets, are their intentions genuine?’
‘But Zion was just so different,’ she added.
The Amazon Prime show will also bring fresh heartache to Jesy when her proposal plays out on screen.
It shows the moment Zion opens up to Jesy on the beach while they discuss their new move to Cornwall.
Starring deeply at Jesy, Zion said: ‘On another note, I just want to thank you for being the best partner I could ever ask for.
‘I feel like you’ve helped me find a love that I even thought was possible. I just want you to know that.
‘So on that note, I love you so, so much. You’re my best friend, and you’re the person I genuinely want to spend the rest of my life with.
‘We’ve been through so much, good times, we’ve had our challenges but we will always come out stronger.
‘And you’ve always been the best partner I could’ve ever asked for through thick and thin.
‘So, will you marry me?’
A besotted Jesy replied: ‘Yes, of course. This is the most beautiful ring… Oh, I love you so much.’
It comes after Jesy discussed her ‘really tough’ break-up from the father of her twins Zion Foster, after they split following their daughters’ diagnosis.
She ended her four-year relationship with Zion, just weeks after the couple announced their twin daughters, Ocean Jade and Story Monroe, had been diagnosed with SMA Type 1, a rare genetic condition that causes muscle wastage.
Jesy revealed the ‘traumatic’ series of events that ultimately led to the collapse of her romance with Zion, explaining the dynamic between them shifted and their priority is now co-parenting their daughters.
She told the Daily Mail: ‘We have been through such a traumatic experience and for us, our girls are our main priority and our main focus.
‘We want to give them the most positive, happy and uplifting time and energy and because we have both been through such a traumatic experience, the energy wasn’t right between us, which is understandable.
‘We are still friends and we are still united in co-parenting our daughters, they are our main focus, that’s all we can do, be the best possible parents we can right now.’
Jesy had hoped to finally embrace motherhood after a complicated pregnancy, during which she learned her daughters were monochorionic diamniotic (MCDA) identical twins, and had twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS), a rare condition where both babies share a placenta.
She was relieved when they were born healthy, but her joy was shattered six months later when the SMA diagnosis arrived.
Now campaigning for all newborns to be tested for spinal muscular atrophy at birth, Jesy insists that early diagnosis is crucial, as a one-time infusion can significantly improve muscle development.
She admitted she still feels ‘sad’ and ‘angry’ that her daughters weren’t identified within the vital early window. She said doctors had told her not to compare her twins’ growth with other babies due to their premature birth – advice that later compounded her distress.
The star added: ‘I am taking each day as it comes because I feel like right now, especially with the girls’ diagnosis, it’s all I can really do. If I try to look too far into the future, I will drive myself crazy.
‘The girls are doing really well and they’re happy, that’s all I can really ask for.’
If you have been affected by this story, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org
Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix is available on Prime Video on February 13