‘Mum forced me to do X Factor’

LITTLE Mix regret doing The X Factor at such a young age.

They were 16 when they starred on the show and the girls insist that’s far too young to be under so much pressure.

Perrie Edwards admitted she didn’t feel ready for the dizzying heights of fame when her mum forced her to audition.

Asked what she would have told her younger self, Perrie admitted: “I would have said: ‘You’re not ready, go home’.

“The idea of being a pop star to about the things we’re passionate about – whether it’s women’s rights, LGBTQ issues or Black Lives Matter.

“All those things that once we would have been scared to touch on. But it’s OK to be passionate about something, and speak up against something, if you don’t agree with it.”

And their passion is reflected in their forthcoming fifth album, one of their songs Woman’s World is inspired by the #MeToo campaign.

Jade told Noisey: “So we wrote this song when the whole #MeToo movement was coming about.

“I was so angry about what was going on. It holds an important message.

“We haven’t written anything that’s too controversial before and now we’re starting to write things that are slightly more honest.

“We want to be a bit more ballsy and say: ‘Yeah, it is hard to be a woman’.”

She teased the lyrics include the line ‘If you’ve never had to struggle to be heard / you haven’t lived in a woman’s world’.

Today they released lead single Woman Like Me. „Ê

THE stars were out and proud for the seventh annual Virgin Holidays Attitude Awards in London last night.

Idris Elba was named Man Of The Year and Ellie Goulding was on hand to give Ricky ‘La Vida Loca’ Martin his Legend gong.

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Star Trek’s original Mr Sulu, George Takei , was honoured with the Icon Award by Whoopi Goldberg.

And 80s fan Robbie Williams was allowed out on a school night to give Boy George the Music Icon Award.

Jess Glynne got the Music award „Ê

and Courtney Act the Hero prize. The night’s most touching moment came when Judy and Dennis Shepard

won the Inspiration award after years of campaigning against hate crimes following the tragic murder of their son Matthew in 1998.

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I’ll bring you more from the event tomorrow.