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Leigh-Anne gets emotional reacting to her X factor audition 15 years ago

19 February 2026, 16:53 | Updated: 11 March 2026, 17:28

Leigh-Anne Pinnock from Little Mix joined us on Capital XTRA Breakfast with Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie to talk all things her new album ‘Me Ego Told Me To’. While taking a trip down memory lane looking at her X Factor audition the star got emotional. Here’s why.

By Shanai Dunglinson

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Leigh-Anne Pinnock joined us on Capital XTRA Breakfast with Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie, to talk all-things her debut album ‘Me Ego Told Me To’, however, reflecting on how far she has come from her X Factor audition got the pop star emotional.

The High Wycombe-born star has had an impressive career for age, only being 34 years old.

Being one of the members of Little Mix, the artist burst onto the scene at just age 19, meaning she has worked in the industry for a decade and a half.

Leigh-Anne on Capital XTRA. Picture: Global

With the girl group, she achieved 3 BRIT Awards and 19 top-ten singles, but now as a solo artist, the star is on her way to dominate.

Going solo in 2022, she has had success with songs like ‘My Love’ and ‘Been A Minute’, it has not been an easy journey.

The 34-year-old has always been open about her struggles of getting creative control over her solo career, going independent only recently, and is reportedly self-funding her newest project and debut album.

Leigh-Anne in Little Mix. Picture: Getty Images

When Leigh-Anne was shown her TV audition for The X Factor, the star couldn’t help but get emotional over just how far she has come.

She said: “It’s taken so much to get here…I would say keep that fight, keep that determination. Keep that thing that you have when people tell you you can’t do something, keep that thing where you just keep on saying ‘Yes, I can’, and you do it, it genuinely doesn’t matter when you have so much fight and belief in yourself.”

She continued: “You’re gonna get there, and you do, and it’s not going to be easy but what I always do is thank her [younger self], because she is she has always been that little fire, and I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her and that like go getter thing she always had. And that’s why I wanted to do this era because I missed her. But yeah, she has always been there, she is a fighter, man, and she’s so resilient, and we’re here.”

Leigh-Anne’s album drops on February 20th.

You can watch clips from her interview over on our socials @CapitalXTRA, right here.