Why did Jesy Nelson and Chris Hughes break up? Chris reveals real reason behind split from former Little Mix star

Why did Jesy Nelson and Chris Hughes break up? The Love Island star has revealed the real reason he and the former Little Mix member called time on their romance.

Jesy Nelson and Chris Hughes were at first, an unlikely pairing when it was revealed the former reality TV personality was dating a member of one of the UK's biggest girl-bands after enjoying a steamy date in a kebab shop. But as their relationship grew - so did the fan's love of them being together until the time was called on their 16-month relationship last April.

And now 12-months after the split, Chris has opened up on his relationship, telling fans the real reason for them asking why did Jesy Nelson and Chris break up? And it's not what you'd expect...

Why did Jesy Nelson and Chris break up?

Jesy Nelson and Chris Hughes announced they had officially broken up in April last year. At the time it was thought the couple split due to isolating in separate homes because of the coronavirus lockdown (opens in new tab).

A source told The Sun at the time, "Jesy and Chris split up a couple of weeks ago. It was all very amicable and they're still really good friends. Jesy rang Chris and led the conversation about their relationship and both agreed that it felt like it had run its course - they're both absolutely fine."

At the time Jesy, then 28, confessed she chose not to isolate with Chris in lockdown, with the Love Islander staying with his flatmate and added, "My love life is fine and dandy."

But now Chris has finally lifted the lid on the real reason for their split. Speaking to new! magazine, he said, "It's just one of those things — people grow apart and things happen. Not everything is meant to last and the world would be very weird if everyone who went out with someone was with them for the rest of their lives."

And just a week before the split Little Mix released their hit Break Up Song, of which Chris featured in that video and she later took an extended break from the group before quitting the band completely and revealed she used to starve herself (opens in new tab) when she was in the band.

With the answer to the question Why did Jesy Nelson and Chris break up? answered, Chris and Jesy are said to have remained on good terms, despite Chris seemingly leaving Jesy unimpressed at the NTA's 2020 when he was involved in a violent row with a photographer. Chris added, 'I'm just grateful and fortunate that Jesy's still a very good friend of mine.'

But Chris has revealed the split took its toll on his mental health. He told The Sun, "It was difficult. Sometimes you just grow apart. There have definitely been days when I wake up and things haven't felt great. The period 12 months ago was really tough. There were days where I was waking up and our split was the first thing I was thinking about.

"I had to try my hardest mentally to break the cycle. Life was a s**tstorm," he added. Since the split, Jesy has also quit Little Mix.

Why did Jesy Nelson leave Little Mix?

Jesy announced she was taking an extended break from Little Mix back in November last year due to 'private medical reasons'. At the time a statement posted on Twitter read, 'Jesy is having extended time off from Little Mix for private medical reasons. We will not be issuing any further comment currently and ask media to please respect her privacy at this time.’

The news comes after Jesy, 29, missed the final of the group’s BBC1 talent show, Little Mix: The Search, and was also absent when they hosted the MTV European Music Awards.

The band went on to make their first TV appearance without Jesy since she announced her extended break when they appeared on The Jonathan Ross Show.

And just a month later, in December, Jesy announced she was permanently leaving the band, and later confessed that she used to 'mentally bully' herself to 'starve' (opens in new tab) whilst in the band.

At the time of announcing she'd quit the band, Jesy wrote on Instagram, 'I find the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard.' And she went on to say that whilst being in the band had been "the most incredible time", it was now time to "embark on a new chapter".

Who is Jesy Nelson dating now?

The Little Mix singer shocked everyone when she came out of lockdown last year dating Our Girl star Sean Sagar. The pair were said to have kept their relationship quiet following her split from Chris but according to reports, Jesy and the actor had been dating since April last year.

But it wasn't until October that year when the couple went Instagram official, with Jesy sharing a series of cute snaps with the actor who she called her 'everything'.

But the romance was short-lived as Jesy and Sean deleted all traces of each other from social media in January this year, sparking talk they had split after nine months together (opens in new tab). It is thought that Sean 'liked' a string of glamorous snaps online including Too Hot To Handle star Nicole O'Brien and model Yasmeen Falck.

A source said, 'Jesy and Sean have decided to take some time apart. It’s such a shame as they made a lovely couple but recently things haven’t been right between them.'

It's thought Jesy is currently single.