Little Mix singer Jade Thirwall has claimed that the band’s split from Simon Cowell’s Syco record label “f***ed us over.”
The band shot to fame on Cowell’s TV talent show The X Factor in 2011 and were represented by his label for seven years.
In 2018, Syco confirmed that they would “no longer work with Modest Management,” Little Mix’s management company, “and therefore any artists signed to that management company.”
The announcement came just days before the release of Little Mix’s album LM5.
Speaking to Brazil's POPline, Thirlwall, 27, said that she and bandmates Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson and Leigh-Anne Pinnock couldn’t promote the message of female empowerment as strongly as they had wished during the LM5 campaign due to the “switch of labels.”
“We did a little bit but we had a switch of labels during the LM5 process and that really f***ed us over,” she said.
“It was harder to put all our creativity out there in the way we would have liked.
“The LM5 album was very heavily on women’s rights and our experiences in the industry. We’re sort of cruising at the moment. That period in our careers was quite troublesome.”
Thirlwall said that the group is “now in a good place,” adding: “We’re with [record label] RCA and we’re working on a new record, which is really exciting. We’ve learnt to really stick to our guns and do what we believe in.”
The band is set to venture into TV with the launch of BBC talent contest The Search this spring.
The competition will see Little Mix put their industry experience to good use as they search for talented vocalists to become members of new bands.
They will act as mentors for the contestants, who will live together and be supported by the group’s inner circle of vocal coaches, songwriters, producers and stylists.
