The pop star made a veiled reference to Jesy’s departure from the girl group.
Little Mix’s Jade Thirlwall made her triumphant return to the world of drag on last night’s episode of Drag Race UK Vs The World.
The singer was brought in for the episode to help coach the competing drag queens as they formed a girl group. As well as being on hand in the recording studio, the Geordie singer sat alongside Michelle Visage, RuPaul and Graham Norton on the judging panel.
Before judging could begin, RuPaul asked Jade how her girls got on in the booth and how they compared with Little Mix.
To this, Jade replied with: “Oh it’s just the same really. I bossed everyone around and there’s an ugly rumour going around that one of the girls is leaving the group tonight.”
Viewers took this to be a reference to the Jesy Nelson’s departure from the girl group last year and their subsequent hiatus.
Jade should be a permanent judge ngl #DragRaceUK pic.twitter.com/TG4iXpb4Vo
— ✨Bovril Lavigne✨ (@FoxSimee) March 1, 2022
Little Mix fans jumped onto Twitter to share their reaction to the sly dig.
One wrote: “Not the leaving the group comment Jade the shade.”
Another said: “Jade throwing shade at Jesy. I. AM. LIVING.”
A third fan simply tweeted: “Jade didn’t hold back!”
There were also calls for Jade to be made a permanent judge on the show.
Jade has a well-documented love for the art of drag, and she even featured drag queens – Alaska Thunderfuck, Willam Belli and Courtney Act – in the Little Mix music video for Power.
In a small teaser to last night’s show, she explained what drag means to her, saying: “The thing I love most about RuPaul’s Drag Race UK is (that) it is a celebration of UK drag. It’s a community where you feel so much love and I just absolutely gag for it, and that’s it really.”
