Leigh-Anne Pinnock admits she lost “parts of herself” during her time in Little Mix and her confidence was “hit” as she “struggled” to find her identity in the group

Leigh-Anne Pinnock has admitted she lost “parts of herself” during her time in Little Mix as she “struggled” to find her identity in the group.

The 32-year-old singer chatted to Will Manning on Capital Breakfast on Friday morning after launching her solo career earlier this year.

During the interview, Leigh-Anne spoke about the difficult times she had in the girl band – despite the huge success they achieved.

“You talk about the times when you weren’t happy and you turned it on, that just made me really sad,” the host said.

“I think that was shocking to a lot of people. When you think of Little Mix you think of those times, you think of colors and rainbows and happiness and yeah a lot of it was because I was with my sisters and we were having the time of our lives and I think the Reason “The reason I went ahead with it was because I just wanted to make her laugh,” the singer explained.

Truth be told: Leigh-Anne Pinnock has admitted she lost “parts of herself” during her time in Little Mix (pictured with the band) as she “struggled” to find her identity in the group

Opening: The singer chatted to Will Manning on Capital Breakfast on Friday morning after launching her solo career earlier this year

“I felt like I really needed this, this sisterhood meant everything to me. “I think what was also difficult was not really understanding what was going on.”

“If you think the reason I felt that way was because of the color of my skin, I couldn’t even say those words because they didn’t make sense to me,” she added.

“You also say you were accepted into the band and stuff when you were trying to figure out what role you played. “Am I the sexy one, I’ll try that out, no, that’s not me.” “That’s really hard,” Will asked.

“It was a struggle,” Leigh-Anne admitted honestly.

“I think in finding my identity in the group, I think every girl had their thing.” Jade [Thirlwall] was like sweet Geordie, Perrie [Edwards] was this beautiful blonde and incredible voice, Jesy [Nelson] was inspiring and I asked myself: Where do I fit in? And yes, I’ve been through it, do I have a certain hairstyle that I always rock? Or do I wear the sexy clothes?’

The English songwriter opened up as she said: “I’m having a really hard time finding that place and I’ve really realized that I’ve just lost parts of myself. I walked into this group so confident and confident with my voice, so confident with everything I do. From the beginning, those things were just scraped away, scraped away.”

“Are you feeling well?” asked the radio presenter.

“I think the moment I thought, Leigh-Anne, just be yourself… was when I thought, I’m just happy to be doing this,” she said.

Real: The former Little Mix sensation spoke about the difficult times she had in the girl band – despite the huge success they achieved

This comes after the My Love singer revealed that all three band members secretly had therapy after Jesy Nelson left the group.

The pop star, who rose to fame in the girl group formed on The X Factor in 2011, wrote candidly about the band’s power struggles in her new autobiography, Believe.

Leigh-Anne was joined by Perrie Edwards, 30, Jade Thirlwall, 30, and formerly Jesy, 32, in the band, which disbanded in 2021 after Jesy left in 2020.

Speaking about the “painful” departure, Leigh-Anne said: “It was a complex and painful thing to come to terms with.” We all felt it, that pain and sadness. The whole thing felt like a weird breakup and I wasn’t prepared for it.

“I was not prepared for the intensity of these emotions. “The whole thing was abrupt and sad and then chaotic, which made it even more painful.”

She continued: “I have been in therapy throughout my career. When we decided to stop Little Mix, I felt compelled to return. We all did.

“In fact, it happened a little earlier than our break.” We were a family, the four of us were like sisters, and had been since we were teenagers. So it is no exaggeration to say that losing a member was a traumatic experience.

“When you have felt so much love and support from another person for so long and then it suddenly disappears, you never fully understand why it hurts.”

“The therapy helped me and all of us process what happened and deal with the emotions associated with it.” The whole mess is now so far behind me that it’s not even worth commenting on. “We have moved forward to something even brighter and stronger.”

Speaking about her close friends Perrie and Jade, Leigh-Anne concluded: “The experience has brought the three of us even closer together.”

Jesy previously spoke about her devastating struggles with her mental health during her time in Little Mix – and revealed she has no regrets about leaving the band in 2020 because she needed to protect her mental health.

Jesy admitted she hadn’t spoken to the band’s other stars – Perrie, Leigh-Anne and Jade – for two years.

At the time of her departure, Jesy admitted that she found “the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very difficult” and the pop star has now admitted that she was never “prepared” for the job, but “just”. a barmaid’.

She told The Sun: “For me, my mental health issues were a constant problem while I was in Little Mix. “I struggled with my body issues, I was constantly trolled and really struggling.

“I was there for almost ten years. I don’t think I was ever prepared for what was to come. I didn’t have social media or anything. I was just a barmaid working in Dagenham.

Opening: It comes after Leigh-Anne revealed that all three band members secretly had therapy after Jesy Nelson left the group

“I needed support and help to overcome that and I didn’t have the time to do that while I was in the band. I have no regrets because I had to do what was right for me and I will always cherish the memories I had with Little Mix.”

In December 2021, the pop trio announced that the group was taking a break after “ten fantastic years.”

The band wrote in full to announce their decision: “We wanted to let you all know that we will be taking a break from Little Mix after the Confetti tour in April/May next year.”

“It has been 10 fantastic years, a wonderful non-stop adventure, and we believe it is time to take a break so we can recharge and work on other projects.”

“We can’t thank you enough for your love and your never-ending support since the beginning. “We love you all SO much.”

Little Mix continued: “We are not breaking up – Little Mix are here to stay.” We have plans for more music, tours and performances in the future. We have created so many incredible memories with all of you and can’t wait to create so many more.

“We are sisters and will always have each other and you, the fans, in our lives.” Little Mix is ​​forever, see you on tour! Jade, Leigh-Anne and Perrie.’

Candid: Speaking about the “painful” departure in her new autobiography Believe, Leigh-Anne said: “It was a complex and painful thing to come to terms with.” We all felt it, that pain and that sadness. “The whole thing felt like a weird breakup and I wasn’t prepared for it.”

Earlier this year, Leigh-Anne said she was “frustrated, sad and angry” at being “undervalued” during her time at the top of the charts.

Leigh-Anne said in the same Vogue interview that she couldn’t accept the treatment, despite family and friends telling her to just “take the money.”

The singer is now launching her solo career with her debut song “Don’t Say Love”, released on Friday, which helped her express her “frustration, sadness and anger” over the situation she found herself in with Little Mix.

Despite her feelings, the musician admitted that being cast in the band during her time on The X Factor was “the best thing that ever happened” as the group created a “long-lasting legacy.”

Since the group split, the singer has been dabbling in the world of acting with small film roles while focusing on mothering her twins, who were born in August 2021.