‘I have a daily battle with myself not to go on Ozempic’: Jade Thirlwall on anorexia, protest in pop and life after Little Mix

As part of the hugely successful girlband, she had to contend with an eating disorder, racism and a hostile tabloid press. Now JADE the solo artist is conquering the charts with her unorthodox pop bangers and unfiltered attitude

It’s customary for former girlband members to shun their manufactured roots the second they go solo. But now that Jade Thirlwall is no longer a member of Little Mix, she’s become their biggest fan. “I look back and I’m gagged at us!” she tells me, eyes wide with delight. “I still watch our music videos or performances and wonder how we weren’t even bigger, because we were fucking amazing.

“Before I released my first solo song, I listened to Little Mix’s entire discography and cried. I was this young lass from South Shields who just wanted to make it as a singer, and I went on to be in the best, coolest girlband ever.” And now? “Now I get to have a bonus round, doing my own songs,” she beams.