In a remarkably open new interview, former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson has attributed her own profound struggles with food and body image directly to her mother Janice's lifelong issues with weight. The 34-year-old singer, who has previously detailed her battles with eating disorders and mental health, now believes these problems originated in childhood through learned behaviour.
Roots of the Struggle
During an appearance on Jamie Laing's Great Company podcast, Jesy explained how watching her mother "constantly weigh herself" and consume diet products like Slim Fast created patterns she would later adopt. "I always saw my mum constantly weighing herself, and I picked that up as a child," she confessed. "I think that followed through... and then, as I got older, I started doing that, and it's what you learn."
The singer recalled extreme measures she took during her time with Little Mix, including starving herself before shoots and performances, sometimes surviving on just Diet Coke for days. This behaviour, she now understands, was deeply connected to those early childhood observations.
A Transformative Journey to Self-Acceptance
Remarkably, Jesy revealed that it took becoming a mother herself to finally appreciate her body after "33 years of extreme dieting." After welcoming twin daughters Ocean Jade and Story Monroe with ex-partner Zion Foster, she experienced a profound shift in perspective.
In an emotional social media post accompanied by black-and-white photographs showing her holding her babies while wearing underwear, Jesy wrote: "I never thought it would have taken having two beautiful baby girls, that I could have potentially lost, to make me realise how incredible my body actually is."
The Impact of Motherhood
She continued with powerful honesty: "33 years of extreme diets, 33 years of putting myself down wishing my belly was flatter, wanting my waist just a little smaller and almost going through with a boob job, to now standing here having this photo taken. I can honestly say I've never felt prouder of my body and what it has been through!"
Jesy publicly revealed in January that her daughters have spinal muscular atrophy type 1, discussing the diagnosis on ITV's This Morning and focusing her energy on raising awareness about the condition.
A History of Public Struggle
Jesy's journey with body image has been painfully public since she rose to fame with Little Mix after winning The X Factor in 2011. She faced relentless online trolling about her appearance, receiving messages telling her she was "the ugliest thing" and that she "deserves to die."
In her 2019 BBC documentary Odd One Out, she revealed the devastating impact of this abuse, including a suicide attempt where she took "as many tablets as I could" and waited for them to work. "I thought, 'I could be the skinniest girl in the world, and this is never going to go away,'" she recalled. "That was the point I got severely depressed."
Leaving Little Mix
The constant pressure eventually led to her departure from Little Mix in December 2020 after nine years with the group. In her farewell statement, she explained: "The truth is recently being in the band has really taken a toll on my mental health. I find the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard."
She emphasized her need to "reinvest in taking care of myself rather than focusing on making other people happy," and embarked on a solo career before stepping away from the spotlight.
A Message to Other Mothers
Now, Jesy has turned her painful experiences into a message of support for other women. Addressing new mothers feeling pressure to "snap back" after childbirth, she urged: "Take a moment to remember what YOU did! Be kinder to yourself and remember you are INCREDIBLE!!!"
She expressed particular concern for her daughters' future relationship with their bodies: "If there's anything I've learned over the past 9 months of being pregnant, it's that I never want my girls to feel the way I did about my body for so many years."
Fans responded overwhelmingly positively to her vulnerability, flooding her social media with messages praising her as an "incredible role model mama" and thanking her for "using your platform to share what normal bodies look like after having a baby/babies."
The remaining Little Mix members—Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock—went on hiatus in 2022 to pursue solo projects, while Jesy continues her journey toward healing and self-acceptance, having traced her struggles back to their childhood origins.
