Often referred to as this generation’s Spice Girls, Little Mix are just on the cusp of releasing their latest album Glory Days. The girls are no newcomers to the FAULT scene, having previously been featured in issue 17– back when Salute was only just being released. It has been a while since and the foursome has surely done some growing up in the meanwhile. We caught up with Little Mix ahead of their album release and here’s their take on the past 5 years of their careers.

You’ve gone a long way since people first saw you on the X Factor. You’ve rocketed to the top, broken records and vanished the jinx of the X-Factor winner. How does it feel to prove everyone wrong?
Perrie: It feels really good. Every little bit of success we get, we feel massively grateful and humbled for it. I don’t think I’ve ever expected to have the success that we have now. But I’m glad we broke that curse for X Factor. We’re very proud of ourselves.

It’s been five years now. What do you think is the most important lesson that you’ve learned over the past five years?
Perrie Just to try and stay grounded with all your family and friends. Hold your loved ones really close. And try to keep your own little circle of friends. It’s hard to trust people in this industry. So yeah, keep all your family close.
Jade To appreciate what we have. I think it’s very easy in this job to think negatively and think low of yourself after working such long hours. We’re always tired, but we have to remember that we’re in a much better position than many other girls. And also – to never underestimate our success.

So straight out of the X Factor – what were the biggest issues that you encountered in the industry?
Leigh-Anne We didn’t have a clue what to expect. When you’re in a show like that, you’re kind of thrown into it in a way that you don’t really have any time to adjust to it. I think we were just really lucky to have each other. Doing that on your own – must be so much pressure. I’m just really happy that I got to have these girls as my comfort blanket.

Was there a specific moment in your careers when you realized that you’re becoming role models for young girls and therefore had a responsibility towards them?
Perrie I think being named role models kind of happened just naturally, we never really asked for it. Which is lovely, I love the fact that girls look up to us and we empower people and inspire them. But obviously, we’re young girls and we’re going to do silly things sometimes that can kind of put pressure on us, but we’re just being ourselves. And if that means that we’re being role models by just being ourselves, then that’s incredible. It’s a massive compliment.

And as so, do you have any particular life stories that you’d like to share with your young audience for them to learn from?
Leigh-Anne Well, both Jade and me had bad skin when we were young. And we used to get teased. And at the time – you think it’s the worst thing in the world. What I would say to anyone that is suffering from it is the fact that it will go away and it’s not the end of the world.

As women in the public eye working in an industry that constantly scrutinizes people – women first and foremost – have you ever felt you had a responsibility to act against it?
Perrie Well, now that we’ve got a bit of influence – which is amazing – we try our best to make something positive out of it. We don’t think it’s fair that women get scrutinized more than men. Everything is harder for a woman in every kind of aspect and that’s why we try to empower women with our music, our image and everything we stand for. If we can help a little bit, then we’re doing okay.

How did you all find your individualities under the given circumstances?
Perrie We kind of stayed the same I think. From the beginning, we all knew who we were individually, what our style was and what we liked and disliked. Nothing changed, it just evolved. We like to be individuals because more people can relate to us. People relate to Leigh-Anne differently than they relate to me and so on. We’re all tight knit, but we embrace our individualities too.

Have you always had this mindset?
Perrie Yeah, we’ve had the same beliefs pretty much from the beginning. We’ve always wanted to be girl-power; we’ve always wanted to inspire people.

How do you usually cope with the pressure of that omnipresent eye of the media?
Perrie At first, it was really horrible. We were really young; I was 17 when I got put into Little Mix. I felt like a baby, I didn’t know how to fend for myself. Moving to London was terrifying – to not be with my family. I think, at first, we found it hard reading things about ourselves that weren’t true. Like rumours or seeing a bad picture right on the front of a magazine or whatever it was. But now, we literally couldn’t care less.
Leigh-Anne It doesn’t matter. We’ve learned how to deal with it all of it now. Everybody gets it. Adele, Beyoncé, everyone gets scrutinized. And it’s usually from people who don’t have a life.

What’s next for Little Mix?
Perrie Hopefully a lot more success. But we’re very happy with this album. It’s a lot more mature, it’s very honest and it’s different to what we’ve done before. We just hope it does really well.

What’s your FAULT?
Perrie I can be stubborn.
Leigh-Anne When I gen drunk, I take things really seriously.
Jade Mine is overthinking. I’m too much of a perfectionist.

Fault Magazine