Little Mix’s Jade Thirlwall says the band will never be pulled apart by feuds, insisting: “We’re family.”
The group have been rallying around Jesy Nelson, who said this week she was taking a break for “medical reasons”.
And the girls have admitted they did not expect being in the group “to be this hard”.
Jade, 27, said: “We said from the get-go we’d remain equal, even when other people might tell us otherwise. That’s one of the reasons we’ve lasted.
“We’ve always been about lifting each other up – I think that translates.
“People aren’t stupid, they can tell when you’re on stage if you aren’t getting along.
“Maybe that’s why people have warmed to us for nearly 10 years. We’re family now.”
Jesy, 29, announced her decision to take a break after she missed the final of their BBC1 talent show, The Search.
She was absent again when the group hosted this month’s MTV European Music Awards.
But the remaining three girls, including Perrie Edwards, 27, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock, 29, put on a united front on The Jonathan Ross Show, filmed on Wednesday, again without Jesy.
Formed in 2011, the group have sold more than 50 million albums, had four No1s and are jointly worth about £50million.
But Perrie admitted: “I don’t think we expected it to be this hard. We don’t rest, we don’t sleep. But we love success – it’s been an amazing 10 years.”
