Jessica Louise Nelson (born 14 June 1991) is an English singer who rose to prominence as a member of the girl group Little Mix from 2011 to 2020. Before joining Little Mix, Nelson landed two acting roles as an extra in About a Boy in 2002 and in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005, both of which are uncredited for. In 2011, she auditioned as a solo act for the eighth series of The X Factor UK, and was placed into a group with three other contestants to form the girl group Little Mix, who made history by becoming the first group to win the British version of the series. As part of Little Mix, Nelson achieved five number-one singles on the UK Singles Chart.

In 2019 Nelson released a BBC One documentary titled Jesy Nelson: Odd One Out, which documented her experiences with body image and online bullying. It won the Factual Entertainment Award at the 25th National Television Awards and also a Visionary Honour Award for Documentary of the Year. Shortly after her departure from Little Mix, Nelson signed to Republic Records. She was formerly signed to Polydor Records in 2021 but left a year later due to creative differences. In October 2021, she released her debut single “Boyz” featuring rapper Nicki Minaj, which debuted and peaked at number four on the UK Singles Chart.

Jessica Louise Nelson was born in Romford, East London, on 14 June 1991, to John Nelson, a businessman, and Janis Nelson, a police community support officer. Her parents separated when she was five. She is the second youngest of four children with an older sister Jade, an older brother Jonathan and a younger brother Joseph. 

Nelson attended Jo Richardson Community School and Abbs Cross Academy and Arts College in Hornchurch, London. She also attended the Sylvia Young and Yvonne Rhodes Theatre Schools. Prior to auditioning for The X Factor, Nelson worked as a barmaid in Dagenham. In 2020, Nelson said that, as a child, she had small roles as an extra in About a Boy (2002) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2022)

Her first audition was “Bust Your Windows” by Jazmine Sullivan, and successfully auditioned as a soloist for the eighth series of the UK version of The X Factor in front of judges Louis Walsh, Gary Barlow, Tulisa Contostavlos and Kelly Rowland, but failed the first challenge of the “bootcamp” section to progress through to the Girls category (solo females aged 16–24). Nelson and Perrie Edwards were put in a group called “Faux Pas” while Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock were to be put in a group named “Orion”. Both groups, however, failed to progress. A later decision by the judges recalled two members from each group to form the four-piece group Rhythmix, sending them through to the “judges’ houses” section. They eventually reached the live shows and were mentored by Tulisa Contostavlos. On 28 October 2011, it was announced that the band’s new name would be Little Mix. On 11 December 2011, Little Mix were announced as the winners, making them the first band ever to win the British version of the show.

Nelson performing during Little Mix’s The Get Weird Tour in 2016. After winning the show, Little Mix signed a record deal with Syco Music, owned by Simon Cowell. Since joining Little Mix, Nelson has faced cyber-bullying and struggled to cope during her time on The X Factor. Nelson released six albums with the group; DNA (2012), Salute (2013), Get Weird (2015), Glory Days (2016), LM5 (2018) and Confetti (2020) The last of which was released a month before she left the group.

Nelson released her documentary on BBC Three in 2019, titled Jesy Nelson: Odd One Out. The documentary was based on her experiences with body image and online bullying. It was BBC Three’s top factual title since the channel moved online and on BBC One it was watched by 3.3 million viewers. The documentary won the Factual Entertainment Award at the 25th National Television Awards. In December 2020, she announced her departure from the group due to prolonged issues with her mental health. She said: “I find the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard.”

In May 2021, Nelson announced that she had signed a record deal with Polydor Records and that she would be releasing solo music later that year. On 8 October 2021, Nelson released her debut solo single, titled “Boyz”, which included a feature by US rapper Nicki Minaj. The single, which was an interpolation of “Bad Boy for Life” and the music video featured a cameo of the original singer Diddy, was met with a mixed reception and peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart.[citation needed] On 29 July 2022, it was announced that Nelson had split from Polydor Records, amid “creative differences” fourteen months after signing with them.

On 3 April 2023, following a clearance of her social media, Nelson announced her new single “Bad Thing” which was released on 14 April 2023. Upon its release, Nelson attracted praise from the charity Women’s Aid due to the song’s themes of domestic abuse. On 17 April 2023, the Official Charts Company published their midweek chart predictions; they placed “Bad Thing” at number 98. “Bad Thing” did not end up charting on the UK Top 100, but instead peaked at number 15 on the UK Official Singles Downloads Chart on 21 April 2023.

Nelson has said that being bullied at school may have contributed to her suffering from stress-induced alopecia as a teenager. In her BBC documentary Odd One Out, Nelson was vocal about her struggle with body image. She said she would starve herself before TV performances or video shoots, then later binge eat. She said that abuse from online trolls on Twitter drove her to attempt suicide in 2013, stating: “I felt that I physically couldn’t tolerate the pain any more.”