Jade From Little Mix Has Opened Up About Her Battle With Anorexia

They’re our favourite girl group right now and there’s no denying that Jade, Jessy, Perrie and Leigh-Anne, are currently living their best lives.

But while Little Mix are certainly riding high at the mo, it hasn’t always been this way for Jade, who has just opened up about a difficult period in her teenage years when she battled with anorexia.

In a segment in the band’s new book Jade reveals that she had to be hospitalised as a result of the disorder.

“Anorexia is a self-destructive thing and you become stubborn, so when people are trying to tell you something you get it into your head that they’re against you and you’re not going to listen,” Jade writes in the band’s autobiography.

“It took going to hospital to make me realise that it wasn’t a game, it was something really serious,” she adds. “They sat me down in the clinic and were quite tough at first, spelling it out: ‘You’re destroying your body and if you keep doing this you will die.”

Jade also revealed that a close friend was also suffering from the disorder at the same time, and it was her admittance to hospital that gave Jade the wake up call she needed.

“It shocked me into making a change,” she explains.

Thankfully Jade was given the help she needed and began piecing her life back together bit by bit, and by the time she was leaving secondary school she was back to full health.

Just a few short years later she auditioned for the X Factor and became part of one of the world’s biggest girl band.

If you or someone you know is affected by the issues raised in this piece you can seek help from BodyWhys, The Eating Disorders Association Of Ireland on 1890 200 444 or via their website. 

• Jade Thirlwall
• Little Mix