Little Mix's Leigh-Anne Pinnock has revealed that she and bandmates Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards underwent therapy after Jesy Nelson quit the group in 2020.
The singer, 32, reflected on Nelson’s “painful” exit in her new autobiography Believe, writing that her departure from the group, which formed on 2011’s X Factor, “was a traumatic experience”.
Pinnock writes: “It was a complex and painful thing to come to terms with. We all felt it, that pain and sadness. The whole thing felt like a weird break-up, and I wasn't prepared for it.
“I wasn't prepared for the intensity of those emotions. The whole thing was abrupt and sad and then it was messy, which made it even more painful.”
She added: “I've been to therapy during the course of my career. When we decided to pause Little Mix, I felt compelled to go back. We all did.
“In fact, it happened a little earlier than our hiatus. We were a family, the four of us were like sisters, and we had been that way since we were teenagers, so it’s not an over-exaggeration to say that losing a member was a traumatic experience.
“When you have felt so much love and support with another person over such a long time and then that suddenly disappears, you never fully get to understand why it hurts.
“Therapy helped me, helped all of us, process what had happened and manage the emotions that came with it. All of that messiness is now so far behind me that it‘s not even worth commenting on. We have moved forwards into something even brighter and stronger.”
The My Love hitmaker added that the trio’s decision to go to therapy together made them closer, writing: “The experience pulled the three of us even closer together.”
Nelson has previously spoken about her mental health battles during her time in Little Mix, ultimately leaving the girl group to protect her mental health.
At the time, the Bad Boy singer, 32, said she found the “constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard”.
She previously told The Sun: “For me, my mental health issues were an ongoing thing while I was in Little Mix. I was struggling with my body issues, I was constantly being trolled and I really, really struggled.
"I was in it for nearly 10 years. I think I was never prepared for what was to come. I didn’t have social media or any of that. I was just a barmaid working in Dagenham.
“I needed support and help to overcome that, and there wasn’t the time while I was in the band. I don’t have any regrets because I had to do what was right for me and I will always cherish the memories I had in Little Mix.”
Little Mix announced they were taking a break after “ten amazing years” in December 2021. Since then Pinnock has embarked on a solo career while Thirlwall and Edwards are working on their own music projects.
