{"id":12084,"date":"2011-12-12T23:26:53","date_gmt":"2011-12-12T23:26:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/x-factor-2011-winners-little-mix-have-the-last-laugh-at-school-bullies\/"},"modified":"2011-12-12T23:26:53","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T23:26:53","slug":"x-factor-2011-winners-little-mix-have-the-last-laugh-at-school-bullies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/12\/x-factor-2011-winners-little-mix-have-the-last-laugh-at-school-bullies\/","title":{"rendered":"X Factor 2011 winners Little Mix have the last laugh at school bullies"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\nBy
\nSara Nathan<\/a><\/p>\n

Last updated at 11:26 PM on 12th December 2011<\/p>\n

They are the first group \u2013 let alone girl group \u2013 ever to win the X Factor.<\/span><\/p>\n

But yesterday, all four members of Little Mix admitted they had suffered severe bullying before winning the ITV talent show.<\/span><\/p>\n

The entire band come from broken homes and said their troubled pasts had spurred them on to try to find stardom on reality TV.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\"Who's<\/p>\n

Who’s laughing now? Little Mix suffered severe bullying at school – but last night won the coveted X Factor crown when they were announced as this year’s winners<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

They also hit out at magazines for giving young girls \u2018threatening\u2019 and sexualised images of women, revealing they had deliberately chosen to dress in a non-provocative manner for their young fans.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesy Nelson, 20, from Romford, Essex, was left devastated by jibes about her weight after being subjected to cruel bullying over the internet during her time on the X Factor.<\/span><\/p>\n

The curvaceous blonde barmaid, whose father John was jailed in 1986 after being convicted of murder and affray, revealed she nearly quit the show after being called fat and ugly.<\/span><\/p>\n

She moved schools five times to get away from bullies, and she told the Mail she would not lose weight for fame, saying: \u2018I did expect it when I first auditioned for X Factor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\nEnlarge<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\n\"They're<\/a><\/p>\n

They’re no losers! Little Mix beamed at the cameras as they left their London hotel today<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018When you come into this industry you\u2019re going to get comments and criticism, but it\u2019s not until you actually see it, you think \u2018Oh\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018It wasn\u2019t nice, it did upset me, I just think I\u2019m so lucky to be in a group, they\u2019re like my three sisters, whenever one of us is down we always pick each other up.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019ve learnt that for every bad comment, there\u2019s 1000 good comments – but that one comment will always stick in your head.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018You have to embrace who you are, if everyone was the same it would just be boring. I\u2019m not going to be a size six in six months time.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Her father, 46, was convicted of the
\nkilling of amateur boxer Paul Reidy outside a disco in Dagenham before
\nthe conviction was overturned and he served a shorter sentence for
\naffray.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\"Tears:<\/p>\n

Tears: Jesy broke down on the show after she was targeted by bullies who called her fat and made jibes about her weight at the bottom of a video of Little Mix on YouTube<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He is now a successful businessman who runs a string of companies including the Nelson\u2019s Garden Centre in Hornchurch, Essex.<\/span><\/p>\n

But when asked about her father\u2019s past, Jesy said nervously: \u2018I don\u2019t really want to talk about it.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Leigh-Ann Pinnock added: \u2018There\u2019s been times where no-one believed in me. I knew I wanted to be a singer, no-one thought I could ever do, the only people who believed were my family and friends.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

The 20-year-old from High Wycombe had been working as a waitress at Pizza Hut before auditioning for the X Factor, said: \u2018I used to get teased at primary school, boys would say I was ugly and as I got older it was \u2018you can\u2019t sing, you\u2019ll never make it\u2019, but I kept going.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Jade Thirlwall, 18, from South Shields,
\nadmitted: \u2018I used to get bullied, I used to be the school swot and kids
\nthrew paper at my head because I was doing better than everyone else.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Bullied: Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwell admitted that they had been picked on when they were at school<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u2018They\u2019d laugh \u2018you\u2019re a swot\u2019, but I\u2019m here now. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018The
\npeople who are like that are people who see you doing well and they
\ndon\u2019t like it. It\u2019s the same as Jesy now, they\u2019re seeing her doing well
\nand they think \u2018how can I put her down?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018I
\nwould sit there, thinking \u2018when I leave here with A star grades what
\nare you going to do? \u2018And I got 15 As and A stars for my GCSEs.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Leigh-Anne
\nsaid the X Factor had brought her divorced parents Debbie and John
\ncloser together, adding: \u2018I love that my parents have come together for
\nthis experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018They were
\nboth supporting me and coming to watch me on every show, brought them
\ncloser as friends, because they weren\u2019t getting on before.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\"Girl<\/p>\n

Girl next door: Perrie Edwards said she believes they are popular because they aren’t threatening to other girls<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Perrie Edwards, 18, from Newcastle, whose parents Debbie and Alex are divorced, said their broken families had helped them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her father is a rock singer and nearly fronted AC\/DC, however he left when Perrie was young. <\/span><\/p>\n

During
\nher time on the show, her step-father Mark Dufty, who married Debbie
\nwhen Perrie was just four years old, revealed they had split.<\/span><\/p>\n

He
\nblamed the X Factor, saying: \u2018Since Perrie got on the X Factor we have
\nsplit up. That was Deb\u2019s decision. Since she has been going backwards
\nand forwards to London for the show and for Perrie she has decided she
\nhasn\u2019t got time for the marriage.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

But the petite blonde insisted: \u2018We\u2019re so lucky, no matter what\u2019s happened in our past, our parents are so supportive.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\"Busy<\/p>\n

Busy day: The girls showed no signs of fatigue as they arrived bright and early at the Daybreak studios today<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

She said the band wanted to sign up to promote an anti-bullying charity, and said: \u2018We have lots of young girls on Twitter asking how to cope with being bullied, it\u2019s so nice they want to confide in us and ask for advice. They say “you\u2019re our role models”.’<\/span><\/p>\n

Perrie said the band were popular because they were not sexy and threatening to other girls. <\/span><\/p>\n

She added: \u2018We look at magazines, turn a page and see a beautiful girl and think \u2018why don\u2019t I look like that? But it\u2019s not real, what you see is not real.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Jade, who is naturally a size six, said: \u2018A lot of girls are threatened by that. But we\u2019re not a clone of each other, girls can relate to a different girl in the band.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\"Making<\/p>\n

Making a difference: The girls, seen here during the semi-final show, said lots of their fans have turned to them asking about how to tackle bullies<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Perrie, also slender, replied: \u2018I think it\u2019s good to look curvy, whatever size you are it\u2019s good, girls come in all shapes and sizes.’<\/span><\/p>\n

Leigh-Anne said: \u2018I don\u2019t have to be skinny, I don\u2019t have to look a certain way to be successful. We\u2019re not perfect and we\u2019ve made it.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Little Mix, now on course for the number one spot with the single Cannonball, a cover of the Damien Rice hit, have been given backing by X Factor show supremo Simon Cowell.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perrie said: It\u2019s not always going to be 100 per cent rainbows, butterflies and flowers, there are going to be hard times, but we\u2019ll get by it together.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesy said: \u2018We loved the Spice Girls and there\u2019s a big gap in the market for a girl group.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\"Friends<\/p>\n

Friends for life: Little Mix were mobbed by their fellow finalists after hearing they had won<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Taken from:
\nX Factor 2011 winners Little Mix have the last laugh at school bullies<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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