Perrie Edwards sobs as she says Jesy Nelson's rejection was 'dagger to the heart'

Little Mix icon Perrie Edwards opened up about the breakdown of her friendship with Jesy Nelson - who left the group at the end of 2020

Perrie Edwards has opened up about the heartbreak she endured following the breakdown of her friendship with Jesy Nelson.

The singer rose to fame with Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jesy and Jade Thirlwall as part of Little Mix. The group enjoyed a widely successful career but they announced in December 2021 they were taking a hiatus a year after Jesy left to pursue a solo career. They have all since separately released solo music.

In a Twitter/X statement at the time, they wrote: "It's been 10 amazing years, a wonderful non-stop adventure, and we feel the time is right to take a break so we can recharge and work on some other projects." However, they insisted at the time: "We are not splitting up - Little Mix are here to stay."

Perrie recently sat down with Fearne Cotton for the Happy Place podcast and discussed her friendship with Jesy. "When it's a friend, you don't really hear about it that much in music so I was like I'm going to write about it because it's just as heartbreaking if not worse," she told the host.

"When you've been in that person's life for years, they've had your back, and you've been highs, lows, everything and poof they're gone. That is hard to deal with. I struggled a lot with that. It's really sad but at the same time, these things sometimes happen. It does make you think, 'Do we try to rectify the situation? Do I reach out? It doesn't feel like I should. I feel like I should stay away.' It's a really horrible dynamic to be in."

Speaking about the idea of reaching out, she added: "I think when you try and it doesn't get taken well. It's like another [mimics dagger to the heart]. Well I tried, they don't want it. That's fine. You can't force someone to be friends with you. If they don't want to be friends with you, they're not gonna be friends. It's really hard."

When Jesy announced she was leaving Little Mix four years ago, she released a statement where she hinted at a feud between her and her fellow band members, Perrie, Jade Thirlwall, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock. Perrie explained that he own solo career started when the band decided to take a hiatus back in 2021.

Speaking on The Zach Sang Show, Perrie said the song she wrote about the friendship breakdown is very close to her heart. Despite not naming Jesy, Perrie said that the person in question was a huge part of her life and that she still misses their bond now.

She said: "There’s a friendship that I no longer have. I wrote a song about that. That song - I can’t even listen to it without crying. It is about them and how we didn’t see eye-to-eye. It’s a really sad song. We don’t talk anymore. They were a big part of my life so it’s sad how it all ended up."

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