Ro l lacoast e R / AU T U M N / W I N T E R 20 1 2
sUGaR RUSH
ThE NoN-sTop pop-’TIl-yoUdRop lIfE of lITTlE MIx
G E N E R ATIO N X
It’s 2pm in a stuffy studio in east London, and the manager of girl band Little Mix is trawling the internet for footage of an ITV interview the foursome filmed earlier in the day. He locates the video he’s after, presses play, and his tense expression softens as he sighs, relieved, “Ahhhh good, you look much better than you did on This Morning.” You’d hope that, having nailed their latest television appearance, Perrie Edwards, Jesy
Pa G e / 5 2
Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall might be granted a second to chill, especially given that they’ve been working since 3am. Not so. In every sense – from the round-the-clock drive to engage with fans via social networks to the perennial pre-shoot primping in ovenlike changing rooms – for this lot, the heat is always on. Behind the scenes at Rollacoaster’s photo session, in a room strewn with chocolate bar wrappers, most of the girls are snapping photos of the studio’s kitten and posting them online. Thirlwall, however, is curled up in the foetal position, desperately trying to snatch a catnap. She’s soon prodded awake by management to check that she, too, has tweeted today to the million-strong
Twitter following the band have built up after winning X Factor. In the year since their victory, Little Mix have headlined The X Factor Tour, supported fellow reality show stars JLS, made an album and even (somewhat prematurely) released a book. They’ve also discovered that a hellish schedule is par for the popstrel course; they’ll finish at around 9pm tonight, only to wake for a 12-hour press session tomorrow. “I don’t think any of us really knew how hard it was going to be,” admits Pinnock. “But it’s so worth it. It’s like, do you wanna be at home looking for a job or do you wanna be here?” Prior to acquiring their freshly-minted superstar status, the girls variously held roles as Pizza Hut waitresses, college students, and in the case of Nelson, a post as a barmaid in Romford. Right now, she’s preparing to pull poses rather than pints, and the make-up artist has suggested creating a ‘natural look’. “That is NOT happening. Can’t we do smoky eyes?” the traumatised 21-year-old pleads. Later, as the photographer advises