Jade Thirlwall has opened up about the harsh reality of being in Little Mix, revealing she and her bandmates sobbed at the height of their success amid fears they’d be dropped by their label
Little Mix cried over fears their label would drop them at the height of their fame. The girl group made history when they not only became the first group to win The X Factor in 2011, but also became the first girl group to make it so far in the competition.
Previously, girl groups, including the likes of Belle Amie and 4th Impact, had been voted out of the competition during the early live show rounds. However, with the guidance of their mentor, Tulisa Contostavlos, Little Mix continued to sail through week after week.
Every week, Jade Thirlwall, Jesy Nelson, Perrie Edwards and Leigh-Anne Pinnock impressed the public and judges with their renditions of E.T, Don’t Stop the Music and Super Bass. After winning, they went on to become one of the biggest-selling UK girl bands of all time.
Despite this, Jade has now opened up and feared the girls would be dropped by their record label, while at the height of their success. Prior to the release of their third studio album, Get Weird, in November 2015, the girls had racked up an impressive three Number One singles and seven Top Ten singles.
Jade has now revealed that, ahead of Get Weird’s release, the group worried their career could be over. “It was cut-throat. You were always on a tightrope of success; if you fell out of the Top 10, there was a lot to worry about,” she said. Speaking to Harper’s Bazaar UK, she added: “I look back at times when we were huge, before Get Weird came out, and we had a big sleepover, all crying, ‘If this isn’t a Top 10 song, we’ll get dropped.’ It’s wild to think about now because we were so big at the time.”
However, Jade admits that after the group went on an indefinite hiatus in 2022, she struggled the most. Her bandmates, Perrie and Leigh-Anne, were engaged and had families, while Jade is dating Rizzle Kicks star Jordan Stephens.
She told the outlet: “I struggled the most to adapt to life after the group – the other girls had better distractions: families, kids. They went into a new chapter willingly. It was just me. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Since I was 18, I lived and breathed Little Mix. It just took me a minute to adjust
“There were so many spirals. I kept thinking, ‘Will I still be relevant by the time I come out? Will everyone forget about me?’ And being 30-plus, you do wonder, ‘Is that old to start as a solo artist?'”
But to Jade’s surprise, she has gone on to achieve astronomical success since her girlband days. She signed as a soloist with RCA, and her debut single, Angel of My Dreams charted at Number 7. Her solo record, That’s Showbiz Baby, released in September this year, saw Jade take home the Number Three spot.
This, however, isn’t all – her solo headline tour, That’s Showbiz Baby: the Tour, is completely sold out, leaving Thirlwall to add extra dates for fans to snap up more tickets. At the BRIT Awards this year, she took home Best Pop Act and was also nominated for Song of the Year for Angel of My Dreams.
Elsewhere, in November last year, she took home the Trailblazer Award at the Rolling Stone UK Awards.
The December/January issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK is on sale from 7 November
Source: Mirror
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