Jesy Nelson removes any mention of Little Mix from Instagram less than 24 hours after announcing departure

Singer announced she was leaving the girl band after nine years

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Jesy Nelson has removed any mention of Little Mix from her Instagram profile less than 24 hours after announcing she had quit the band.

On Monday, the singer shared a statement on social media revealing her decision to step away after nine years of performing together.

“The truth is recently being in the band has really taken a toll on my mental health,” Nelson explained.

"I find the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard.

"There comes a time in life when we need to reinvest in taking care of ourselves rather than focusing on making other people happy, and I feel like now is the time to begin that process."

Nelson went on to say that she wants to “spend some time with the people I love” and is ready to “embark on a new chapter”, though she didn’t specify what she would do next.

Now, Nelson’s bio directs her 7.5m followers to an email address: media@teamjesy.com.

The 29-year-old’s departure from Little Mix comes after she has spoken out several times about struggling with her mental health.

In September 2019, Nelson fronted a BBC documentary, Odd One Out, in which she revealed that online abuse led her to attempt suicide.

In an interview with the Guardian ahead of the documentary’s air date, Nelson explained it wasn’t until she deleted Twitter that she began to feel “normal” again.

“Instead of beating myself up about it and being miserable, I think, ‘OK, I’m going to have my moment of being sad, and I’ll be over it’. Before, I didn’t let myself be sad.”

You can contact the Samaritans helpline by calling 116 123. The helpline is free and open 24 hours a day every day of the year.

You can also contact Samaritans by emailing jo@samaritans.org. The average response time is 24 hours.