Little Mix Celebrates 10 Years Since Winning 'The X Factor' : 'The Most Life-Changing Event Ever'

"Look at us, little babies," Leigh-Anne Pinnock says as she reminisces about Little Mix's win on series 8 of The X Factor in 2011 alongside Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards

Little Mix Jade Thirlwall, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Perrie Edwards 'The X Factor Live Final' TV Programme, Wembley Arena, London, Britain on December 11, 2011.
Photo: Ken McKay/Talkback Thames/Shutterstock

Little Mix might be preparing to take a break, but they're still stopping to appreciate their roots.

Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards, and Jade Thirlwall reminisced about winning series 8 of The X Factor on the 10th anniversary Saturday, giving a glimpse at their separate hiatuses in a video posted to social media.

"10 years since we won The X Factor," the group wrote in the caption. "The most life-changing moment ever for all of us. Thank you for all the support over the last decade xxx."

Pinnock, 30, Edwards, 28, and Thirlwall, 28, took turns holding up a photo of the three of them — plus ex group member Jesy Nelson and their mentor Tulisa Contostavlos — celebrating their victory on the stage of the competition series in December 2011. They were the first group to win the show.

"Look at us, little babies. Wow!" Pinnock said in adoration. "And you could see in our faces, we did not expect that. It's mad."

"This was the most life-changing event ever, for all of us, surely," Edwards mused. "Winning The X Factor when we thought we wouldn't even make it to the first week. And Tulisa's face as well, I literally loved Tulisa so much. She was a rock through the whole experience. But yeah, this just makes me so happy. Look what we did."

"Again, I can't even remember this happening, to be honest," Thirlwall admitted. "But as you can see, I was quite animated in my expression, as we all were. Tulisa is our sister, has been and always will be, and is honestly one of the reasons why we're here and even managed to win that show. So, we'll always be grateful to Tulisa. We love her very much."

Little Mix has since released six studio albums together, for which they've won three Brit Awards, including this year's Brit for British Group.

Little Mix
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The anniversary comes after the trio announced earlier this month that they're taking a break following their upcoming Confetti Tour, but they assure fans that they're "not splitting up."

"We wanted to let you all know that after the Confetti tour in April/May next year we are going to be taking a break from Little Mix," the group wrote. "It's been 10 amazing years, a wonderful non-stop adventure, and we feel the time is right to take a break so we can recharge and work on some other projects. We can't thank you enough for your love and never-ending support since the beginning. We love you all SO much."

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The occasion also comes almost a year to the date after Nelson, 30, left the group in December 2020, just a month after the release of their sixth and most recent album Confetti. She explained that being in the group had "really taken a toll on my mental health."

Leigh-Anne Pinnock can currently be seen in Boxing Day in U.K. cinemas. The group's compilation album Between Us dropped in November.

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