AS far as solo music debuts go, Jesy Nelson ended up having a rotten start.
The singer, who has always come across to me as kind, polite and supremely talented, was poorly advised from the off and saw her big moment in the spotlight embroiledin controversy and criticism.
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But after taking a decent amount of time away from the spotlight, those close to Jesy have told me she has been offered to put across her side of the story, warts-’n’ all in a documentary.
A source said: “Jesy has had a really rough ride since leaving Little Mix.
“So much has been said about her in that time and she wants to go on the record and speak directly to her fans about everything that has happened.
“In terms of her music, Jesy’s solo career has been a difficult road to navigate.
“Last year she had to put the brakes on her album and now she is preparing to forge a fresh path.
“This documentary could help her set the record straight and allow people to see what it has been like for her.
“A production company is in touch and has been working with Jesy about what she would want the documentary to look like.
“It is a nerve-wracking but also exciting time for her.”
Following the difficult reception to Boyz, which saw her embroiled in a “black fishing” storm in October 2021, Jesy walked away from her record deal with Polydor.
She spent part of last year working on a record before taking a break and quitting social media.
After travelling to America, Asia and around Europe to get away from the UK, she returned towards the end of the year to get herself together ahead of her next comeback.
Jesy’s made a previous documentary, Odd One Out, which she released in 2019, and which was hugely well received and saw her pick up a National Television Award.
In the film Jesy spoke movingly about the pressures of being in Little Mix and how her life had been turned upside down at the hands of nasty internet trolls.
I don’t doubt that if she gives the green light to this tell-all it would do just as well.
AS Jesy Nelson gears up for the next step in her career, her former Little Mix bandmate Perrie Edwards is on the verge of releasing her first solo tracks.
Perrie said: “I didn’t want to decide on a single and release it until my album was finished, or pretty much done.
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“I feel like now it is in a very good place. We have decided the first single, second and third. They are all different sounds.
“When I got in the studio I didn’t know what genres I wanted to do, so I experimented a lot”
Perrie has signed a bumper deal with Columbia Records, the label which helped produce the first five Little Mix albums alongside Simon Cowell’s now defunct Syco.
I can’t wait to hear what she’s come up with.
FINALLY, EastEnders legend Natalie Cassidy is getting the pop culture admiration she deserves.
Fans of the actress, who plays Sonia Fowler in the BBC soap, spotted Lil Nas X stealing her style in the music video for his new song J Christ.
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The singer is seen on screen wearing a choker with “sex” printed onto the front – just like Nat did in 2003.
He’ll be playing a trumpet next.
MIDDLLE SPREAD
Rita finds new shape with Keith
HER third album You & I peaked at No6 in the charts six months ago but Rita Ora is hoping to give it a resurgence, after re-recording one of the tracks, Shape Of Me, with Keith Urban.
The song will be out on January 29.
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On working with the country music veteran, Rita said: “With Keith, it was a natural, organic thing.
“I really started to get to know his daughters and his wife (Nicole Kidman) and just seeing all the feminine presence.
“Shape Of Me is about my mum and I just felt like, verbally, Keith would really resonate to that.
“It also has this country twang, so it made sense.”
Rita suggested the idea to Keith after meeting him on The Voice Australia.
She is never not hustling.
ARIANA GRANDE is preparing to knock Noah Kahan off the top of the charts on Friday.
Her comeback single Yes, And? is on course to become her eighth No1.
It will be a battle until the end though, with Noah only 2,000 sales behind Ariana, as it stood last night.
Come on, Ari. You’ve got my vote.
Paul not so glad about film
HE made a name for himself in BBC series Normal People but Paul Mescal’s life will, undoubtedly, be turned upside down when Gladiator 2 comes out later this year.
And the Irish actor has admitted he is far from excited about the global fame that beckons.
When asked about how he felt ahead of his first big Hollywood blockbuster, Paul said: “I don’t know what the difference will be.
“Maybe that’s naive? Is it just that more people will stop you in the street? I’d get profoundly depressed if that’s so and hope it isn’t true.
“I’ll have an answer next year, but if [the film] impacts my life in that way, I’ll be in a bad spot.
“I’d have to move on and do an obtuse play nobody wants to see.”
Either that or borrow that brown bag Shia LaBeouf used to wear on his head.
Sheer’s his next
THERE is just no stopping music machine Ed Sheeran.
His seventh record, Autumn Variations, went straight to No1 last September and it seems the follow-up isn’t far off.
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Ed said: “I’m finishing up the next record.
“A day in the life is I get up, I go to the studio, I come home and I go to sleep, that’s about it. I’m with my family a fair bit, but regarding downtime, my job is my hobby so I don’t feel I’m going to work, I’m just doing the thing I love.
“My downtime is just my hobby.”
After finishing his mammoth Subtract tour last year, Ed has been locked away at his Suffolk family home, a little oasis locals have dubbed “Sheeranville”.
As well as his main house, Ed has three other properties on his estate, plus a pub, gym and wildlife pond.
Any nosy neighbours – and Ed has plenty, given the number of complaints he’s had about his building work over the years – have all now been shut out too.
One local told me Ed has now grown a huge hedge to stop anyone being able to moon over his pond, which had people fuming about whether it was actually a swimming pool.
Can’t they just leave the man in peace?
Car parks don’t exactly ooze glamour, but Camilla Cabello has turned her local NCP into her own catwalk.
The ex Fifth Harmony singer had pictures taken in the gloom and shared them with her 66.7million Insta followers.
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Camila commented: “You’re sorry, baby? Me too.
“Least you see me like this when I leave you.”
What, standing next to a load of grubby cars? I see you, Camila, and I think you could have picked a better background.
Studio cam shows lighter side of Billie
FOR a woman who said she’s not been able to have an ounce of fun for the past seven years, Billie Eilish now seems determined to prove she can have a laugh.
The Bad Guy singer, who has been writing her third record with her brother Finneas, is putting cameras into her music studio to capture their every move.
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Billie said: “For Happier Than Ever (in 2021) we didn’t really record anything but this new one, we’ve been having a camera in the corner for every single second of writing it, which is blackmailing ourselves.
“It’s just us candidly being siblings and joking and talking s*** and stuff.”
It wouldn’t surprise me if that was later spun up into a documentary.
The album is due out later this summer, with Billie saying she’s also planning to write the script for a musical with her brother.
On the Awards Chatter podcast, Billie added: “I’m so excited to see where [his ideas] go.”
The week in bizness
TODAY: Nine years after Love Island launched, ITV2 hasrounded up some of the show’s biggest characters and herded them off to in South Africa for an All-Stars version which begins at 9pm.
I want infidelity, back stabbing and bitching – all the perfect ingredients for top trash telly.
WEDNESDAY: The latest Cirque du Soleil show, Alegria, will open at the Royal Albert Hall with a star-studded launch ahead of a two-month run.
David Jason, Jessie J and Mel B were among the guests for the production last year so there is bound to be plenty of celebrities walking the red carpet.
THURSDAY: Nominations for the Bafta film awards will be announced ahead of the 77th annual ceremony at London’s Royal Festival Hall on February 18.
Barbie and Oppenheimer are expected to lead the pack but it’s all to play for in the British Film category, where those two blockbusters, which dominated last week’s Golden Globes, won’t be eligible.
FRIDAY: GREEN DAY will drop their first album in four years, Saviors, which is set to be a major return to form.
The rock group has teamed up with the producer Rob Cavallo, who worked on their biggest record Dookie and American Idiot, so I’m expecting big things.
