‘All of us were traumatised’: Jade opens up on Jesy leaving Little Mix and ‘blackfishing’ saga

Not many Louis Theroux interviews were more anticipated for me than the reveal that Jade Thirlwall would be appearing on his podcast – and whilst the uninformed might question what particularly juicy probing could come out of a Little Mix member with Louis, those of us aware of the politics of that group and the big departure that defined this decade know with a man like Theroux at the helm it was going to be fascinating. Jade Thirlwall is a great speaker and a very endearing character, and her natural spark with Louis Theroux has resulted in a really interesting listen where she speaks about the departure of Jesy Nelson from Little Mix and the ‘blackfishing’ conversations that surrounded it.

Jesy Nelson announced her departure from Little Mix in 2020, and cited that being in the group was too much pressure for her on her mental health. She quickly released a solo single, the controversial Boyz – which saw allegations of ‘blackfishing’ come against Jesy. This refers to when a person presents as a race that they are not – and the music video visuals for that video in particular drew heavy criticism.

Jesy Nelson in her Boyz video

Theroux brings up Jesy’s departure from Little Mix and asks Jade about it, bringing up that Jesy Nelson “was going through a lot of emotional highs and lows”. Jade explains “There was a lot going on at that time. To be honest, I think Covid was a big part of things generally just slowing down and falling apart. I think all of us when we had to stop, priorities and our perspectives changed on what everyone wanted individually.”

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Louis then asks if Jesy Nelson was “pushed” out of the band. Jade replies “No, no. Absolutely not. Nobody was pushed, that’s for sure. Maybe pushed mentally from the perils of being in the industry.”

Louis then brings up that Jesy said she wanted to work on her mental health, but says “She then quite quickly released a solo record.”

“I’m not going to jump on that,” Jade says. “I think some people are right some people are wrong. So much went on during that period that it actually feels like a fever dream for me. It was such a stressful time. I can remember, but it was so hazy. All of us, all four of us were traumatised by that whole experience. I will never begrudge Jesy wanting to leave because she needed to do that for herself.”

Louis brings up the saga of Jesy Nelson releasing Boyz, ‘blackfishing’ and how Little Mix and Jade Thirlwall approached their friend about it. Jade is apprehensive but says when regarding Boyz “holding someone to account is fine. But taking it further than that, I don’t think that’s fine.”

When Louis brings up the band approaching Jesy  about concerns, Jade says “When [the band] were together, that topic [‘blackfishing’] was brought up prior.” Nobody speaks for a few moments, and Jade says “I actually enjoy an awkward silence.

JADE says she will “never begrudge Jesy wanting to leave” Little Mix:

“If she needed to do that for herself, no matter what happened behind-the-scenes or anything that unfolded, I’ll never discredit or invalidate the struggles she had in the group.

Particularly at the… pic.twitter.com/ilXZWeiUyH

— JADE tea room ☕️ (@JADEtearoom) January 21, 2025

The saddest part of the interview was Jade explaining how emotional Jesy’s departure was “We were driving up North and [my boyfriend] kept probing, like: ‘What’s wrong?’ And honestly, out of nowhere, I literally bellowed. You know when you have so much grief that you feel like you’ve been winded, and you start wailing? I think it was all the years of the love and everything we’d been through together; the good things, the bad things, being there for each other. It just fucking exploded. I just wailed and wailed for like, an hour or something. I couldn’t actually speak so I was like, screaming.”

Jade explained “No matter what happened behind the scenes or anything that unfolded, I will never discredit the struggles she had in the group. Particularly in the beginning, she really did suffer with trolling. The press being really mean. It really did some lasting damage. We always did our best to try and support her in that. Sometimes you get it wrong, sometimes you get it right. We are not qualified especially at 18 years old to help someone with that. We just helped as best as we can.

“I can’t and I don’t want to talk about it in depth, because it isn’t just my story to tell. I’d be speaking for people, and I don’t think that’s right. But for myself, I’d say, I’m still getting over it now. Quite truthfully.”

What a saga, honestly.

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