‘The X Factor’ Launched Little Mix, But Jade Remembers the Show Being ‘Pretty F–ked Up’
When Little Mix’s Jade Thirlwall launched her solo career last year, she came out of the gate swinging with “Angel of My Dreams.” The frenzied pop record was coupled with a music video depicting the grueling experience of pop stardom, particularly the way young artists are often treated as disposable. It was all informed by Thirlwall’s own experience winning The X Factor, the singing competition series she says contributed to poor mental health conditions for some contestants.
“I don’t know anyone that’s come off that show and not had some sort of mental health issue on the back of it,” Thirlwall told The Independent. “But also, even now, personally I’m conflicted criticising [it], because it changed my life.” She was 18 when she auditioned for the show as a soloist and found herself placed in a band with three strangers. They would eventually become one of the most successful girl groups in pop history, but what they experienced along the way was “pretty fucked up,” Thirlwall recalled.
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“Even at 18, I knew there were people who weren’t mentally well in there, keeping everyone up at night,” she said of female contestants’ shared dorms. “I don’t know if there was even security outside the house. It’s scary to think about now, but I was too young to realize that at the time.”
Previous contestants have criticized the behind-the-scenes conditions of The X Factor. Following the death of One Direction’s Liam Payne in October 2024, Rebecca Ferguson — who competed on the same season as the band — said she believed “he would be alive today” if he hadn’t auditioned for the show. But there was also little regard for the mental health of the people whose auditions added a comedic edge to the show.
“I think it had to end. I don’t think that kind of show can exist any more. We’re in a different place now,” Thirlwall said. “We wouldn’t put someone that’s mentally unwell on a TV screen and laugh at them while they sing terribly. The concept of a joke act on a show is just cruel. It’s all very Roman empire.” Notably, other singing competition shows like The Voice only air generally strong performances, even when the contestant doesn’t make it through to the next round of auditions.
Thirlwall considers her X Factor experience as “the best training ever for me to enter the music industry,” but also notes the rarity of coming out on the other side of it without some type of lingering damage.
“I’d say five per cent of the people that went on there have come out of it not unscathed, but having survived; the other 95 per cent have suffered in silence,” she said. “How do you go from being on that show to back to your nine-to-five? How do you get signed to the label, think you’ve made it, and then once your song doesn’t hit the Top 10, you’re just dropped? It’s so savage, this machine that we’re a part of. Even back then, we knew how lucky we were every day that we were still signed.”
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