LEIGH-ANNE ON
WHEN one of the stars quits a pop group it’s always a matter of time before it all implodes. We’ve seen it when Geri left the Spice Girls, Robbie Williams left Take That, Camila Cabello left Fifth Harmony or Zayn Malik left One Direction.
Since Jesy Nelson quit Little Mix almost a year ago the rumour mill has grown louder and louder.
They released a greatest hits album, Between Us – always a natural pop full stop – earlier this month and there are reports that the remaining girls, LeighAnne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall, are going to do solo albums next year.
So it looks like a break is in order after a decade being the UK’s biggest girl group. Yesterday, new mum LeighAnne, 30, once again denied a split while promoting her first acting job in new film Boxing Day.
But it’s clear she is branching out and doing other things than Little Mix.
She won plaudits for her exploration of racism across the music industry in BBC Three documentary, Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop and Power, earlier this year, was a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in October and will co-host a live-streamed version of The Mobos on December 5.
This is alongside recently becoming a mother to twins with husband-to-be Andre Gray. Bandmate Perrie had a baby in August, days after Leigh-Anne became a mum, so it’s understandable if they both want to slow down the pop hamster wheel of nonstop recording albums and touring.
Leigh-Anne insisted Little Mix weren’t splitting up in light of her first acting role.
She said: “Definitely not, singing is my No1 passion but I do definitely feel like I’ve got the acting bug now. I loved it, I loved every second.”
She will be back with Little Mix next year for a tour (postponed from this year because of the Covid pandemic) which includes two dates at the Hydro, Glasgow, in April.
She hopes the group’s fans, known as Little Mixers, will get behind her film.
Leigh-Anne, who also admitted she “doesn’t know how she’s even functioning” juggling being a new mum with work commitments, added: “I can’t wait for the fans to watch this. I am so excited. They are the best fan base ever.
“They’re going to love it. It’s going to be interesting for them to see me go into this world and see me on the big screen.”
Watching herself back in the film “doesn’t feel real” she confided. “It’s surreal. To call yourself an ‘actor’ – that is so cool.”
Leigh-Anne, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, plays Georgia, an international pop star dealing with her ex-boyfriend Melvin returning from America. The first-ever all black British rom-com, it’s written and directed by Londoner Aml Ameen, 36, who also stars in the film as Melvin, a UK author.
Two years ago, the character fled London for LA amid some family drama. But now he’s home for some work commitments – and with his American fiancee Lisa (Aja Naomi King) by his side. The singer knows Ameen “really took a chance on me” with her role in Boxing Day, considering she had never acted before. She auditioned three times.
While she was “super-nervous” about her latest career move, she admitted making the film when she was five months pregnant was a joy.
“I really, really loved it – I didn’t realise how much I would as well! Being able to act a character and really put myself into it, and differentiate myself from the character as well... It was hard.
“Like, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But I’ve definitely got the acting bug now.” Little Mix formed during the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011, which they went on to win.
Since then, they’ve found fame around the world and sold 60million albums, thanks to hits such as Shout Out to My Ex, Black Magic and Sweet Melody.
A month after Jesy quit the band, she released a BBC documentary Odd One Out about mental health, online bullying and body image, detailing the anxiety she had being in a girl group.
Leigh-Anne then did her own documentary in May recounting her own experiences of racism in the pop industry and announcing her own charity The Black Fund with Andre to support existing charities and groups who are already supporting the black community.
Leigh-Anne says Boxing Day is a celebration of being black. She said: “This is something that’s never been seen before and it’s just so important to have these things on our screens.
“Black culture is not celebrated enough on our screens, so to be part of something that’s going to create history is incredible. And the fact we’ve got West Indian families, we’ve got African families, it’s so vibrant, it’s so beautiful, it’s so exciting.”
Making her film debut in Boxing Day rounds off a year of firsts for Leigh-Anne who is looking forward to a festive family get together made even more special because her older sister Sairah has also had a baby – her second.
Leigh-Anne said: “It’s going to be a magical Christmas.”
Boxing Day is released in cinemas on Friday.
It was the hardest thing I have ever done... I loved it LEIGH-ANNE TALKING ABOUT HER ACTING DEBUT