Jade Thirlwall Says 'X Factor' "Saved" Her Life From Eating Disorder & Bullying!

Little Mix member, Jade Thirlwall, is getting candid about her life before appearing on the “X Factor” and shooting to stardom.

The singer didn’t have an easy go in life prior to the singing competition show.

Jade opens up about her eating disorder and being bullied in her new book, “The Female Lead: We Rise By Lifting Others.”

The Little Mix member goes as far as to say the TV show “saved” her life.

Jade appeared on the show in 2011 and was put into a girl group called Little Mix.

The band originally consisted of Jade, Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson and Leigh-Anne Pinnock.

As fans of the girl group know, Nelson left the group in December 2020 citing mental health reasons.

In the book, Jade goes into detail about how racism, body image issues and the loss of her grandfather led her mental health to spiral out of control when she was a teenager.

Daily Mail Online obtained an excerpt from the book.

In the excerpt, Jade writes how she was “desperate” to change in order to “feel more accepted” by her school peers.

"I was bullied, my grandad died and I got an eating disorder," she admits in the book, which details her mixed heritage and upbringing.

She also details growing up in a small working-class town with her mom working as a business manager at her primary school, and her dad working as a taxi driver.

"My dad's side of the family are white, my Mam is mixed; my Grandad was Yemeni, and my Nanna was Egyptian,” she explains of her multicultural family.

Jade writes, "I was shy and timid but I found that I could express myself on stage, singing and dancing. I always felt loved and protected growing up, especially by my Grandad."

Things changed for the songstress when she began attending a predominately white Catholic secondary school. Jade says she became an “easy target” at this school.

She describes being bullied over the color of her skin, ethnicity and heritage, which led her to feel insecure about her appearance.

In addition to her struggles during adolescents, Jade also describes her journey on “X Factor.”

She initially tried out for the show when she was 15 and was sent home in the first week of boot camp.

Two years later she returned to the show, the same year One Direction was formed. Sadly, she didn’t make the cut for the show again.

Jade can thank her brother for pushing her to try out a third time, and luckily it was the year she was put into Little Mix.

The singer is in a much better place now, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t struggle with her mental health.

Social media has been a major anxiety trigger for Jade.

"I have turned my Instagram tags off and rarely go on Twitter: I've found that it's important for my mental wellbeing to not be on my phone too much," she said.

Jade continued, "I sometimes struggle to express how I am feeling and a way of letting emotions out is by writing."

We hope her writing become some of Little Mix’s next top songs.