Leigh-Anne Pinnock says Little Mix had to come to an end after she and bandmate Perrie Edwards had children.
The girl group – who were formed on ‘The X Factor’ in 2011, going on to become the first group to win the UK talent show – decided to go on hiatus following the completion of their ‘Confetti Tour’ in 2022.
The decision came in the wake of Leigh-Anne and her now-husband, footballer Andre Gray, welcoming twins into the world in August 2021 and Perrie and her soccer player fiancé Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain having son Axel that same month.
Now, Leigh-Anne, 31, can’t imagine how the dynamics of touring and promoting songs as a group would work with two members being mothers.
Speaking on The Face podcast, she said: “I think, as I say, 11 years in a group, there’s gotta come a time where you spread your own wings and sort of just stand on your own two feet. I think we all came to that sort of mutual decision and I think we’re just ready to see what the world has to offer for us just solo and individually. Also, me and Perrie having children, I genuinely I don’t know how it would work in that group dynamic with kids now. I just don’t understand how.”
Although Little Mix – also comprised of Jade Thirlwall and Jesy Nelson, who quit the group in December 2020 before the trio disbanded – are no more, Leigh-Anne insists that they will always be as “close” as “family” and will always support each other in their lives and solo projects.
Discussing the split and some of the doubts that crept in about the decision, the ‘Don’t Say Love’ singer said: “I feel like it was a gradual thing, like conversations kind of happening, but I’m just happy that we all mutually agreed. You know, there wasn’t one person like, ​’No, we can’t do this!’ As much as we all had come to the unanimous decision, it was like, we would be on tour, the three of us would be thinking, ​’Are we sure we wanna do this?’ We had moments like that, like, ​’I don’t know if this is right.’ Because we just had such a beautiful time on the last tour.
“We’re so close, we’re literally like family and you can’t choose your family. They are just always going to be my sisters. Yeah, it’s weird and it’s hard, but yeah, it’s definitely the right thing to do.”