What is Jade Thirlwall’s ethnicity? Singer recalls being scared to promote her Arab heritage while in Little Mix

Little Mix star Jade Thirlwall opened up about being scared to promote her racial heritage while in the popular girl group. In an interview with The Rolling Stone UK on Saturday, December 28, the singer spoke about being bullied because of her race as a kid. The artist added that she did not understand that she could've opened up about her ethnicity more when she was in Little Mix. She said:

"I’d only ever seen negative stereotypes of Arab people in the press, so I was scared to promote my heritage."

Jade Thirlwall is a mixed-race pop star. The singer is of one-quarter Yemeni and one-quarter Egyptian descent on her mother's side and of English descent on her paternal side.

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Jade Thirlwall opened up about her ethnicity

As mentioned above, Jade Thirlwall opened up about her ethnicity in her Rolling Stone UK cover issue, which was published on Saturday. The Little Mix star recalled her happy childhood during the interview, which stemmed from a strong Yemeni community in South Shields, where she came from.

The singer recalled memories of her grandfather cooking curries and waiting for him outside the mosque. She even used to listen to his prayer and Arabic music. However, despite her happy childhood, the singer was heavily bullied by other girls for her race when she went to a Catholic secondary school, which left her feeling alienated and anxious.

This contributed to Thirlwall's initial reservations about joining a girl group. As mentioned earlier, the singer even mentioned being afraid to promote her own heritage whilst in the band due to the slew of "negative stereotypes" about Arabs around her. She stated:

"I feel sad for my younger self that I could’ve been the representation I needed back then. I try to make up for that now."

Jade Thirlwall previously opened up about her experiences as a mixed-race woman during a June 2020 appearance on the season premiere of BBC Sounds' No Country For Young Women. The singer said at the time that a lot of people did not know that she was mixed-race and even if they did, they had "no idea" about her ethnicity.

The singer stated that she enjoyed being recognized as a "woman of color". Lockdown 2020 prompted Thirlwall to open up her "Cupboard of Doom" for some spring cleaning, during which she ended up rediscovering old pictures of herself when she was younger and her grandfather Mohamed. This reminded Thirlwall of her heritage. She explained:

"My granddad was a Muslim from Yemen. He settled in South Shields and married my granny, who was Egyptian – but I never met her because she died when my mam was four."

Jade Thirlwall admitted that growing up mixed-race in a working-class town like South Shields had its fair share of issues. Thirlwall recalled her grandfather wanting her to be Muslim while making her attend Muslim school on Saturdays. On the other hand, her mother made her go to church on Sundays.

Although the singer was not religious, she enjoyed that part of her life and wished that she would've stuck at it. Thirlwall, who was trying to re-learn Arabic at the time, recalled how her grandfather's passing when she was 13 affected her mental health.

With a modern-day understanding of racism and prejudice, Jade was able to see some of the "crazy" things that happened to her when she was young. She recalled:

"If you weren’t evidently black you were called the P-word or called ‘half-caste’. I would get so confused because I’m not from Pakistan."

She further added:

"One time I got pinned down in the toilets and they put a bindi spot on my forehead – my mam was fuming!"

Jade Thirlwall shared that her inner battle of not knowing what community she fit into became a "whole different ballgame" when she moved to London. There, she felt more accepted after being around people who recognized her as a mixed-race person. However, Jade was still sad about never being able to be proud of who she was through her teenage years. The singer recalled being able to do so after "coming into adulthood and living in a different environment".

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Meanwhile, on November 28, Jade Thirlwall bagged the Trailblazer Award at the Rolling Stone UK Awards 2024. Earlier in the night, the singer also delighted audiences with a version of her July 2024 debut solo single Angel of My Dreams.