Perrie Edwards

Perrie Louise Edwards[1] was born on 10 July 1993,[2] and raised in the Whiteleas area of South Shields, Tyne and Wear.[3] She is the daughter of Debbie Duffie and Alexander Edwards, who are both singers. Her parents divorced when she was young and have both remarried. She also has an older brother named Jonnie Edwards and a paternal half-sister named Caitlin Edwards. Edwards attended Radipole Primary School in Weymouth, Dorset before moving back to South Shields.[4] She attended St. Peter and Paul RC Primary School, and Mortimer Community College in South Shields,[4] and later transferred to Newcastle College, where she received a BTEC in Performing Arts.[4] Edwards lived in Hamilton, New Zealand for two years as a teenager.[5]

Her first audition on The X Factor was "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette.[6] Edwards and Jesy Nelson were put in a group called Faux Pas while Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock were put in a group named Orion. Both groups, however, failed to progress. Later, a decision was made to bring back the four to form the four-piece group Rhythmix, and they progressed to judges' houses.[7] They eventually reached the live shows and were mentored by Tulisa Contostavlos.[8] On 28 October 2011, it was announced that the group's new name would be Little Mix.[9] On 11 December 2011, Little Mix were announced as the winners, the first group to win the programme.[10]

Edwards has released six albums with the group, DNA (2012), Salute (2013), Get Weird (2015), Glory Days (2016), LM5 (2018) and Confetti (2020).[11] In 2019, she became the new face for the Italian brand Superga and released her first designed collection of shoes.[12] In 2020, Edwards become the first female ambassador for the brand "Supreme Nutrition".[13] Later that year, Edwards was revealed as the new face of Nando's, a Portuguese-African food franchise. She also appeared in their television advertisements.[14]

In May 2012, she began dating singer Zayn Malik. The couple became engaged in August 2013 but broke up in August 2015.[15] In February 2017, it was confirmed that she has been dating English professional footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.[16][17] She has esophageal atresia, which is responsible for a bisectional scar on her stomach,[18] and anosmia.[19]