Jesy Nelson says she was more sad than happy in Little Mix as she compares band to a ‘machine’

‘You live once and you have to do what makes you happy,’ singer said

Jesy Nelson has said that she was “very unhappy” during her time in Little Mix, comparing the band to a “machine”.

The singer announced in December that she would be leaving the girl group after nearly 10 years together, citing problems with her mental health.

She is due to release her first solo single “Boyz” in the coming weeks.

Appearing on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast, Nelson admitted that she’d felt overworked and had had “disagreements” with the other members of Little Mix before her departure.

“I had times and moments when I really loved it, but it felt like there were way more times that I was sad than I was happy,” she said.

“I don’t think people realise how hard it is to be in a girl band. There’s a lot that comes with it that people don’t know about and obviously I don’t get to make my own decisions. Three people have to agree as well, so there would always be disagreements on certain things."

Nelson then referred to Little Mix as a “machine” in which she felt her life was being controlled and she had no time off.

“I feel a lot of people think that it’s selfish I’ve left the group,” she told Smith. “It was ten years of my life that I was very unhappy with and I needed to take myself out of that and genuinely do what’s going to make me happy.

“Some people may not understand that, but you live once and you have to do what makes you happy.

"Being in Little Mix is literally like a machine. You don’t have any time off. You can’t switch off. Even when you go home, your phone is constantly going off about work and your life is planned out."

In a recent interview, Nelson said that her decision to leave the group had not been a solo one and that her former bandmates – Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall – had agreed with her exit.