Jesy Nelson has opened up about the "traumatic" experience that caused her engagement with fiancé Zion Foster to falter. The singer has revealed how she ended their four-year relationship just weeks after their twin daughters, Ocean Jade and Story Monroe, were diagnosed with the condition spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 1 late last year.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Jessie, 34, said: "We have been through such a traumatic experience and for us, our girls are our main priority and our main focus. We want to give them the most positive, happy and uplifting time and energy and because we have both been through such a traumatic experience, the energy wasn't right between us, which is understandable."
Jesy, who became engaged to the 27-year-old musician in September, added: "We are still friends and we are still united in co-parenting our daughters, they are our main focus, that's all we can do, be the best possible parents we can right now." The couple had been together since 2022.
The former Little Mix star gave birth to their twins in May, however at six months, it was discovered they had a rare genetic condition that causes muscle wastage, and can impact both quality of life and lifespan. In January, she first spoke publicly about how the diagnosis was first spotted when her babies had difficulty feeding and limited movement of their legs.
Jesy, who stars in a new Amazon Prime documentary Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix, is now campaigning for newborns to be tested for SMA at birth with a heel prick test. In the six-part series, she describes then-partner Zion as her "best friend" and the person who "makes me feel like everything is going to be okay".
The pop star rose to fame as part of Little Mix, alongside band members Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall, after being united on The X Factor in 2011. However, she quit the group in 2020, before going on to release her own solo music.
© GC ImagesHer latest insight into their relationship comes after Jesy had announced their engagement just four months ago. She had shown off her engagement ring in a series of posts shared to Instagram.
In July, speaking on This Morning, she appeared with her then-partner and opened up about the moment they found out they were expecting not one, but two, children. She said: "When we first found out we were having twins which was just crazy we were ecstatic, over the moon. Zion looked like he'd seen a ghost."
