- Jade Thirlwall opened up about her challenging experience on The X factor
- She described in detail how the singing competition was harmful to her mental health
- Thirlwall thought the experience was very “freaking”
Jade Thirlwall talks about her grueling experience on The X factor.
In an interview with The Independent published on Saturday, January 4, the Little Mix alum described how the singing competition was damaging to her mental health – and she wasn’t alone in her experience.
“I don’t know anyone who’s come out of that show without having some kind of mental health problem,” said Thirlwall, 32, who launched her solo career in 2024.
She added: “But also, even now, I’m personally conflicted by criticism [it]because it changed my life.”
Thirlwall was 18 when she auditioned for the show as a soloist – and later found herself in a band with Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson. Although the group found success outside of the show, Thirlwall thinks the experience was “pretty fucked up”.
Jade Thirlwall almost didn’t go on The X factor The audition that landed her in the mix: ‘She couldn’t be bothered’ (Exclusive)
“Even at the age of 18, I knew that there were people inside who were not mentally well and that they were keeping everyone up at night,” she said of her fellow contestants. “I don’t know if there was any security outside the house at all. It’s scary to think about it now, but I was too young to realize it at the time.”
The last episode of the series, which started in 2004 and ran for 15 seasons, aired on December 2, 2018.
“I think it had to end. I don’t think a show like that can exist anymore. We’re in a different place now,” Thirlwall said of the show, which also discovered One Direction. “We wouldn’t put someone who is mentally ill on the TV screen and laugh at him while he sings terribly. The show’s joke concept is just cruel. It’s all very Roman Empire.”
Although she thinks the show was “the best training for me to get into the music industry,” the singer-songwriter said that “five percent of the people who went there came out not unscathed, but alive.”
Little Mix in December 2018.
JM International/Getty
“The other 95 percent suffered in silence,” she continued. “How do you go from that show back to nine to five? How do you sign a record deal, think you’ve made it, and then when your song doesn’t make the Top 10, It’s just wild, this machine we’re a part of, we knew how lucky we were every day.”
Speaking to PEOPLE about her solo endeavors in December, Thirlwall — who auditioned for the show twice before making it on her third try — opened up about nearly quitting.
Jade Thirlwall on Life After Little Mix and Taking a ‘Risk’ with Debut Solo ‘Angel of My Dreams’ (Exclusive)
“The last year I auditioned, I couldn’t be bothered because I was with a shitty guy and I was like, ‘Oh, I just want to hang out with him,'” she began. “I just didn’t know if it was realistic anymore. I was going to study theater production arts and stuff. Then my older brother said, ‘Just go one more time. You never know what’s going to happen.’ You have nothing to lose.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ I left and then they put me in Little Mix, so thank God.”
Over the summer, Thirlwall scored a top 10 hit in her native UK with her debut single “Angel of My Dreams”. She followed it up with “Midnight Cowboy” and “Fantasy,” which are slated to appear on her long-awaited solo album due out in 2025.
When asked what kind of impact she hopes to achieve, Thirlwall opened up about her dreams of pop stardom.
“I want them to think of Jade and think, ‘Y— me, that girl does it all. She gives us everything we could want and more.’ I try to be an all-or-nothing pop girl, I want costumes, choreo, big choruses, big visuals,” she told PEOPLE. “I’m a tireless visual pop artist. Like it or not, it works for me. I’d like people to recognize me as a credible artist who writes my music and actually stands for something, as well.”
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Source: HIS Education