Brit Awards 2021: Little Mix thank Jesy Nelson in powerful acceptance speech

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Little Mix have made history by becoming the first all-female group to win Best British Group at the Brit Awards.

Accepting the historic prize, the group’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock read a prepared speech from her phone which began: “We have been together for 10 years. It’s been the best years of our lives. We’ve gone through so much. We’ve had so much fun and made so many incredible memories.”

She went on to thank Little Mix’s fans, their former bandmate Jesy Nelson, and their entire team. She added: “It’s not easy being a female in the UK pop industry. We’ve seen white male dominance, misogyny, sexism and lack of diversity. We’re proud of how we’ve stuck together, stood our ground, surrounded ourselves with strong women and are now using our voices more than ever.”

The group’s Jade Thirlwall then took over the speech, saying: “The fact that a girl band has never won this award really does speak volumes. So this award isn’t just for us, it’s for the Spice Girls, Sugababes, All Saints, Girls Aloud, all of the incredible female bands - this one’s for you!”

The group’s victory follows the news that two out of three members are now pregnant.

On Tuesday, 29-year-old Leigh-Anne Pinnock announced that she is expecting her first child with her partner footballer Andre Gray.

Yesterday (10 May), her 27-year-old bandmate Perrie Edwards followed suit by confirming that she is also expecting her first child with her own footballer partner Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

You can also follow The Independent’s live coverage of the Brit Awards here.