Jade Thirlwall: “I didn’t feel White enough, Black enough or Arab enough”
The Little Mix singer reflects on identity, resilience and the power of self-acceptance
Singer and songwriter Jade Thirlwall has opened up about her mixed-race identity and the struggle to find a sense of belonging while growing up in a predominantly white northern town.
Best known as one-fourth of Little Mix – one of the most successful girl bands of all time – Jade has spoken about how her upbringing in South Shields, near Newcastle, shaped her view of herself, often in difficult ways. “Being biracial, I sometimes didn’t feel white enough, I didn’t feel Black enough, I didn’t feel Arab enough,” she said in an exclusive interview in 2021 for The Female Lead (Vol II): We Rise By Lifting Others.
“I battled over where I was meant to belong.”
Her mum is of Yemeni and Egyptian descent and her dad’s side is white. She remembers her early years as rich with cultural heritage and warmth: “We lived next to the mosque and 35 different languages were spoken at my school… I always felt loved and protected growing up, especially by my Grandad, who was a beautiful person.” But that sense of safety didn’t last.
Everything changed at secondary school. “I had no friends and I was an easy target,” she said, recalling relentless bullying, the death of her grandfather, and the eating disorder she developed. “Going into the music industry just added a magnifying glass to those feelings.”
Jade spoke to The Female Lead as part of its book The Female Lead (Vol II): We Rise By Lifting Others, which spotlights the stories of remarkable women. Her interview remains a candid and powerful reflection on growing up mixed race in the UK.
Now in her thirties, Jade has found power in writing poetry, and learning to disconnect from the need for outside validation. “The older I get, the less I care,” she said. “Stopping giving my energy to that negativity was the best thing I could have done.”
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She’s also vocal about how difficult it was for Little Mix (who are currently on hiatus) to be taken seriously in the music industry. “Misogyny and sexism still exist,” she said. “For a girl band, it’s hard to be taken seriously and not constantly sexualised.”
Winning the 2021 BRIT Award for Best British Group – the first girl band to do so in the award’s history – felt like a turning point. “It wasn’t just the award. It was the thought that, in 43 years of the BRITs, a girl band had never won. It’s mind-blowing.”
Through everything, Jade’s message has remained clear: staying true to yourself is the most powerful thing you can do. “I wish I could tell my teenage self to stop worrying… Just be yourself. That wins every time.”
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