Dark pressures of Little Mix- gruelling schedules, body-shaming and break-ups

Little Mix's Jesy Nelson's harrowing account of how she tried to take her own life following bullying from online trolls has shed light on the pressures that come with being in one of the most high profile girl band's on the planet.

Following the group's historic 2011 X Factor , Jesy's joy at being in the first group to win the show also came with a deep anxiety.

Propelled into the limelight at the age of 20, the Romford-born singer was horrifically trolled on social media for her looks.

"I wasn't known as one of the singers from Little Mix. I was always known as the ugly one," Jesy recalls in new BBC documentary Jesy Nelson: Odd One Out.

"It literally consumed every part of me," Jesy continues adding things got so bad that she even attempted to take her own life.

"I just remember thinking, 'I need this to go away – I'm going to end this.' I hit such a low point in my life."

Jesy's dealing with online bullies is by no means an isolated experience in the pop group.

Bandmate Leigh-Anne Pinnock has also revealed her torment caused by vile, racist trolls.

In May this year, Leigh-Anne said she's still not '100%' after being sent abuse from bodyshamers.

Speaking out on the Lorraine Kelly show in May, Leigh-Anne said: "It’s horrible. Especially having to deal with it in the public eye, it is nasty.

"But I swear just surrounding yourself with positive people, people who are uplifting, and not looking at it [helps]. It is just irrelevant and it shouldn’t even be happening. It is so nasty."

While Perrie Edwards previously admitted that after winning the X Factor in her teens she would constantly search her name just to read the mean comments about herself.

"Someone once wrote that I had 'cankles' and now I have issues with my ankles," she admitted. "I think they are the biggest, chunkiest things in the world," she said in 2016.

In her recent interview with The Guardian, Jesy described how Little Mix's management stepped in and offered her time off work when they were alerted to her troubles.

But she refused to take a break, fearing that her absence would simply direct even more negative attention her way.

"Our schedule was so gruelling. I was going to see a therapist at six o’clock in the morning, crying, and then going to a photoshoot," she said.

The four piece have been working pretty much non-stop in the eight years since their reality TV triumph with the release of five best selling albums and touring around the world.

At the band's fourth anniversary concert in New York in 2015, an emotionally-wrought Perrie broke down on stage in tears.

It came just weeks after her very public split from fiancé Zayn Malik.

As Perrie dried her tears in front of stunned fans, she was immediately consoled by her three best mates, as Jesy told the concerned crowd: "It's been a long day."

Perrie later said in an interview for Cosmopolitan that people forget they are 'real people going through real things.'

Growing up in the limelight has seen the girls document their relationship highs and lows.

Back in August Jade Thirlwall broke up with her long-term boyfriend Jed Elliott, from indie band The Struts, after their gruelling schedules left them spending barely any time together.

Before Jed went off on tour, Jade admitted: "I'm scared. He's going to America and we're headed all over the place, too. It's going to be really hard but we will FaceTime and hopefully he will come and watch us. We'll see."

During Jed's tour of the US – which coincided with Little Mix's promotional trail for album LM5, an upset Jade broke down on stage in front of fans.

At an intimate concert in London, Jade's wept and couldn't finish the lyrics to romantic ballad Only You.

The night before Jade had shared a late night post to Instagram saying her dog was 'digging a hole to hide my problems.'

As always, during her tears, Jade's Little Mix bandmates rushed to support her by giving her a hug and encouraging their watching fans to help her finish the song.

Speaking to the Mirror at the Brits back in February, the girls said: "We're always stronger when we are together. That's always been our line."

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