THEY were once the benchmark of pop star sisterhood – but it appears Little Mix may be going through a rough patch.
When Jesy Nelson left the squeaky clean girl group in December 2020, four became a very happy three, with 60million record sales and 19 UK Top Ten hits including five No1s.
But 18 months after Little Mix announced they would be taking a hiatus, it appears three has become two with Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall appearing increasingly distant from their bandmate Perrie Edwards in public.
The trio drifting apart has not gone unnoticed by their legion of fans, who have supported the group since they won The X Factor in 2011.
Leigh-Anne, 31, Jade, 30, and Perrie, 29, were last seen together over Christmas when they shared a photo of a meet-up on their Little Mix Instagram account.
They captioned the snap: “Reunited for a Christmas catch up and it feels so good.”
‘Sister for life’
Since then, the trio have all been working on solo music and appear to have barely seen each other.
Perrie did not go on Leigh-Anne’s hen do which took place last month.
Pictures show Jade firmly by Leigh-Anne’s side as she celebrated with her closest friends and family.
Perrie also appeared to swerve Leigh-Anne’s wedding to footballer Andre Grey.
The pair tied the knot two weeks ago in Jamaica.
While Jade and her boyfriend Jordan Stephens were guests at the nuptials, no photographs of Perrie nor her fiancé, former Liverpool footballer Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, being there have been seen prompting fans to ask whether they had fallen out.
Yesterday Leigh-Anne released her debut solo single, Don’t Say Love, which is expected to go straight to the top of the charts next week.
She is the first of the trio to make the jump and Jade joined her at a party in London on Thursday to celebrate the release.
A video from the evening showed Leigh-Anne telling the crowd: “Jade, this girl shows up for me every f***ing time.”
Leigh-Anne also revealed she had played the track to Jade while on her hen do and confided in her about the song.
Appearing on Capital FM today, she explained: “Jade heard Don’t Say Love on the hen do, and my second single too.
“It was by the pool.
“Let me tell you, I was so scared to play it to her.
“It was weird, but she loved it so I was buzzing.”
Perrie has shown her support for Leigh-Anne and her music on social media.
Last week she commented underneath a video posted online by Leigh-Anne teasing her debut single.
Perrie wrote: “Omg. I die. The visuals. The vocals. The lewwkk.”
She also wrote on a photograph of Jade posted on Instagram from the wedding: “You look stunning.”
In her Capital interview, Leigh-Anne championed Jade but simply said she had seen Perrie’s comments.
She added: “I just want their approval.
“They’re still part of me, do you know what I mean?
“Obviously, I saw Perrie’s comments and stuff as well, they’re just there and supporting.”
Leigh-Anne also shared a gushing tweet about Jade’s support on Twitter.
Reposting a video put on Twitter by a fan which showed them posing at her single launch, Leigh-Anne commented: “My sister for life.”
It hasn’t always been like this. After Jesy’s sudden departure, the trio clubbed together.
Jesy, 32, revealed in an interview with The Sun in April that the group had not spoken to her since she quit and had only communicated through lawyers.
She said: “We haven’t talked since (I left). Never say never, but I honestly wish them the best on their solo journeys now, which is so exciting.
“We are all musically different styles. I think we will all go in our own lane.”
As a trio, Leigh-Anne, Jade and Perrie forged on and said following Jesy’s departure: “We have so much to celebrate as a three”.
In August 2021, Leigh-Anne became a mum to twins, while just a week later Perrie had her son, Axel.
The pair spoke fondly at the time of their shared experience of pregnancy.
A few months later, the group hit the road for their final tour as a band in May 2022, and Perrie told The Sun: “I feel like me and Leigh-Anne should have had a note from the doctor saying, ‘Perrie and Leigh have baby brain, go easy on them today’.
“If it wasn’t for Jade, keeping the morale up and the positivity going then I don’t know if we’d have made it.”
When they announced they were taking a step back to launch their solo careers, they also vowed to remain as each other’s chosen family.
They made the announcement as they unveiled their Confetti tour and said: “We’re sisters and we’ll always have each other and you, the fans, in our lives.”
Fans have questioned the recent distance between them and have questioned where Perrie has gone.
“I see Jade at the wedding, wonder where Perrie is?” one follower tweeted.
In reference to Leigh-Anne’s solo single party, another asked: “Perrie girl, where are you?”
Perrie revealed in March she had been working on her debut album and that her label, Columbia, had told her there was no deadline for new music.
She said: “My label have told me to just go with the flow and enjoy discovering what my sound is going to be.
Perrie has previously made no secret of her struggles with anxiety which some fans have speculated could be behind her recent absences.
The singer, who has been working on her own solo music, teamed up with Better Health last month to help any of her followers struggling with their mental health.
She first told Little Mix fans of her struggle in 2019, sharing a candid admission on Instagram.
Perrie said: “Over the past few years I have suffered really badly with anxiety and panic attacks. When I first started to feel the effects of anxiety I thought I was losing my mind and it terrified me.
“I would step foot out the door and feel the overwhelming need to go straight back inside. It completely took over my life.
“I’m happy to say that the physical attacks have stopped but unfortunately the anxiety still lives on. The reality is it probably always will.
“I suffer from anxiety and I want you to all know if you suffer from anxiety you’re not alone.”
It is likely the trio will shrug off any talk of a rift and following their solo careers, where each of them is tipped for huge success, it is likely they will come back together as a brand.
For now though, it appears Perrie is enjoying a break from the spotlight and from being glued to the hip of her bandmates.
Fans of the trio who are keen for them to reunite may, it seems, be waiting a rather long time.
