Lockdown for Little Mix was probably different than it was for the rest of us. As members of one of the world's most famous groups, their ‘breather’, as Leigh-Anne Pinnock calls it, was still busy. Near the beginning of quarantine, they released Break Up Song - and they had to promote and film the music video from home. Jesy Nelson then split from her boyfriend Love Island star Chris Hughes, Leigh-Anne got engaged to footballer Andre Gray, Jade Thirlwall started her own online series interviewing drag queens for MTV and Perrie Edwards was learning dances on TikTok with her boyfriend Liverpool footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
But now they’re back - again - with new summer hit Holiday (the lyrics, FYI, are definitely not about holidays) and they’re speaking to Grazia. Their first day back at work was filming the video, and while most of us can’t relate to our first day back in the office being a glamorous music video shoot, some of us will be able to relate to some of the body image issues lockdown has presented - with Jade saying she worried about returning to work.
‘I really sort of let myself go for the past few months and I guess there was a little sense of freedom in terms of not having like eyes on us 24/7,’ Jade says. ‘But then I’m not going to lie, once we went to work, like the run up before getting back to work, I had a bit of anxiety worrying about body image and how I looked and felt.’
‘[After lockdown], I'm really trying to learn to be kinder to myself and love myself a bit more,’ she adds. ‘It's very easy to get in your own head, isn't it? And say negative things about yourself that you would never say to somebody else.’
Jade has been open about suffering from anorexia when she was a teenager, and all the girls have been honest about the pressures of being in the band, when social media and the press are constantly watching. But they do genuinely lift each other up other. As the group agrees with Jade about being harsh on themselves, Leigh-Anne interjects: ‘We're so in our own heads, like, I swear to God, I look at you all, like, you're so fucking sexy and beautiful... It's insane though, why we feel this way ourselves.’
Of course, body image is something that Jesy covered in last year’s documentary Odd One Out, where she spoke candidly about the impact trolling has had on her life, both on and offline. 'I don't feel like we now live in a world like a normal world,’ Jesy says. ‘I would hate to now be a kid growing up in this day and age. I just think the insecurities that kids must have now must be horrendous because of social media. I feel like we had to bring light to that and make people aware like what comments can do to someone's mental health and how it can change them mentally and physically as a person.’ Now, Jade and Jesy both say they have been using social media a lot less, with Jade adding that she follows more accounts which encourage you to 'embrace yourself'.
Following the horrendous death of George Floyd and the worldwide Black Lives Matter{
‘It feels so surreal to actually be the topic of discussion for once, but amazing at the same time,' she says, talking about the movement and the response to her video, which was shared thousands of times. 'It really is time for change now - this has been going on for over 400 years.'
And the singer is now working on a documentary about racism for BBC Three, which, while it was announced in April, Leigh-Anne has wanted to do for a long time. ‘I remember I was speaking to my mum, way before the movement started happening, and telling her that I really wanted to do it,’ she says. ‘And then she was like “oh Leigh-Anne that's amazing but no one cares about racism”. And then obviously this whole movement started happening - I can't actually believe that it kind of happened the way it did. People are really going to listen, I think this is the perfect time to do it.’
'It's mad because I feel like I didn't really notice it for so many years, I just kind of kind of just got on with it,' she adds. 'But even walking into work, and not seeing any black people, like I see it so much now. And I'm like: how have I just not said anything, how have I just got on with it for so many years. Obviously [there's] behind the scenes not feeling represented. But also I don't really see many black artists in the industry, especially black female artists. There just needs to be more representation.'
The group are all incredibly supportive of Leigh-Anne, and say that it’s their job to be better allies. ‘We’ve all obviously witnessed firsthand what Leigh-Anne’s been through and all the microaggressions that she has faced throughout her career,’ Jade says. ‘I think for us, our job in all this is to support her and understand, as well as educate ourselves more on all the different elements within racism and what we can be doing to help.’
Jade is also a fierce ally for the LGBT+ community, and recently signed a letter along with the likes of Elton John, Charli XCX and Dua Lipa asking for the inhumane practise of conversion therapy to be made illegal in the UK. ‘I think it would be wrong for us to benefit from having so many LGBT+ fans and not actually use our platform to help in any way,’ Jade says. ‘I'm still very much learning myself what it means to be a true ally. And throughout every day, I'm constantly in whether it's [learning] on social media or reading things and having conversations with people.’
‘I was so scared to say anything,’ Leigh-Anne then adds, speaking about her own experience. ‘For fear of saying the wrong thing. But if we don't say anything, then how do you expect any change to come? Like we are going to say the wrong thing, we are going to make mistakes or whatever. We don't know everything. And like Jade said, we are still learning.’
More new music for Little Mix is also on the horizon, with the group gearing up for their 'really feel good' sixth album, which is 'basically done'. They also say they’re more 'chilled' since they split from Simon Cowell’s Syco before LM5, their last album, over musical direction. 'We're literally just doing what we love to do. And if we love the song, then yeah, it makes it on the album,' Jade says. 'I think that's quite a weight of our shoulders, really, to not put that pressure on ourselves.'
But that split didn't come without its complications. When Little Mix announced they were hosting their own talent show (Little Mix: The Search) to find pop's next big band, the X Factor judge hastily changed the scheduled X Factor: All Stars into X Factor: The Band - a presumed dig at his former protégées - so his show could air before theirs. (Cowell has previously insistedhe was approached to produce their show, but said there was a conflict of interests as he wanted to launch X Factor: The Band - and that Little Mix brought their show forward.)
I ask how they feel about it, and Jade and Jesy laugh between themselves. Leigh-Anne, however, provides a very mature answer. ‘I think we just kind of thought "Oh, well, ours is so good. It doesn't affect us really." So, yeah, it what it is… And we wish him well, you know?’
Unfortunately, due to coronavirus, Little Mix: The Search has been pushed back to later this year. ‘We’re so excited for the first episode to drop because it's literally so good,’ Perrie agrees. ‘The whole time we were sat on the sofa watching people's auditions and we kept looking at each other and we just kept saying, “Can you believe this is all for us?” Like these people, who are so bloody talented, are walking through the door and they want to be on Little Mix: The Search and they want to come on tour with us. Like we're so lucky.’
Little Mix: The Search is coming in autumn. Holiday is out now.
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