Little Mix thank Jesy Nelson as they make history winning best group at Brit Awards 2021

Little Mix made history tonight winning British group at the Brit Awards 2021 and made sure to give a special shout-out to former member Jesy Nelson. 

The Confetti singers are the first female group ever to win the award and the achievement comes six months after Jesy quit Little Mix to focus on her mental health. 

As they accepted the British group gong, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards reeled off a list of names of people they wanted to thank and started with Jesy. 

‘We have been together 10 years. It’s been the best years of our lives, we have gone through so much. We’ve had so much fun, made so many beautiful memories. 

‘We want to start by thanking our incredible fans, of course Jesy and our amazing team.’ 

They later paid tribute to all the girl bands that came before them, such as the Spice Girls, Girls Aloud, All Saints and Sugababes. 

Leigh-Anne then took a moment to speak out against the treatment of women in the music industry and said: ‘It’s not easy being a female in the UK pop industry.

‘We have seen white male dominance, misogyny, sexism and lack of diversity.

‘We are proud of how we have stuck together, stood our ground and surrounded ourselves with strong women and are now using our voices more than ever.’ 

Earlier in the night, Leigh-Anne and Perrie posed on the red carpet cradling their baby bumps for the first time since announcing they were pregnant with their first children. 

Speaking to red carpet presenter AJ Odudu, Perrie joked about their new arrivals: ‘We’re going to form a mini group,’ as Leigh-Anne agreed: ‘We are.’ 

Jade then took a moment to thank their devoted fan base for their support in recent weeks and said: ‘A massive thank you really for their loyalty. They are the most hardcore, supportive fans in the world and we literally wouldn’t be here tonight if it wasn’t for them.’ 

The singers then admitted they have a ‘little anxiety’ to not be performing at the awards for a change but were looking forward to simply enjoying the show. 

Jack Whitehall is hosting this year’s Brits with a limited audience size at London’s O2 Arena.

The Brit Awards 2021 will be taking place at London’s O2 Arena and will broadcast on ITV from 8pm.

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