Little Mix have hit out at claims they copied fellow girl band GRL.
The British girl group – comprised of Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Jade Thirlwall and Leigh Anne Pinnock – have denied claims their new single ‘Shout Out to My Ex’ sounds anything like the 2014 hit ‘Ugly Heart’, and suggested the comparisons were a publicity stunt.
Speaking on Belgian radio station Qmusic, 23-year-old Perrie said: "I just think, stop trying to hop on the bandwagon."
To which Jesy added: "Stop trying to get publicity!"
Jade, 23, took a more mediated approach to the subject as she said "they’re both incredible songs" and insisted it was natural for different tracks to have similarities.
She said: "Every song is going to have a similar chord sequence, slightly similar lyrics and melodies. It happens all the time. It doesn’t mean that they’re not both incredible songs.
"I think maybe because it was a girl band as well. I just think people like to have something negative to say."
The row between the two bands first started when Little Mix took the stage on UK talent show ‘The X Factor’ – on which they formed in 2011 – to perform their new single earlier this month.
Fans of GRL – made up of Lauren Bennett, Natasha Slayton, and Jazzy Mejia – then took to Twitter to share their disbelief at the similarities between the two songs.
GRL themselves also took to the social media site to share their anger at the news, simply tweeting: "#ShoutOutToUglyHeart (sic)"
And the similarities between the songs isn’t the only thing Little Mix have had to deal with since their live performance either, as they were also accused of being too sexy by former Spice Girl Mel C.
She said previously: "I love Little Mix. I loved them from ‘The X Factor’. I just thought they were so different.
"But they are getting more provocative. To me, they were kind of the closest thing to the Spice Girls we’ve seen.
"They are all gorgeous and great singers. But they weren’t sexy and it’s got more and more that way. I love them – but I just say, ‘Stay you’."
Little Mix hit out at GRL
