Jesy Nelson. A singer. A dancer. A performer. A queen.

As ¼ of the most successful girl group in the UK, Jesy Nelson is both a national treasure and a fearless pop leader.

Today – Jesy turns 26.HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESY.

With this in mind, we thought that it would be appropriate to celebrate all things Jesy. The good, the amazing and the hilarious.

Before Jesy was a part of Little Mix, she was just a normal Romford girl hoping to catch a break. Well not exactly normal – Jesy had a brief stint as a child actress, almost getting Dakota Fanning’s role in ‘Man on Fire’ and filming deleted scenes alongside Nicole Kidman in ‘The Others’. You can read all about it in Little Mix’s autobiography ‘Our World’.

Nevertheless, up until 2011, Jesy was still trying to achieve her dreams. This all changed when she made the decision to audition for the X Factor six years ago and was put into Little Mix at bootcamp. Then Jesy, Jade, Leigh-Anne and Perrie started to develop into the amazing group that they are today and Jesy's personality began to make itself known.

Here are some of the traits that make Jesy so wonderful.

Queen of Body Positivity

Jesy endeared herself to the British public early on in the X Factor live shows. As the curviest member of the group Jesy, revealed in a VT that she was getting a lot of fat shaming comments from members of the media and X Factor viewers. It was heartbreaking to find out but Jesy’s honesty helped draw attention to an issue that still plagues our culture today and since then she has become really confident in her body and a brilliant spokesperson for body positivity. Watch the X Factor clip above to remind yourself just how fearless and openJesy was right from the start of her career.

Queen of Beat Boxing

Another talent that Jesy revealed early onwas herbeat-boxing abilities. Yes –Jesy Nelson is an amazing beat-boxer. From ‘Superbass’ to ‘If I Ain’t Got You’,Jesy often upgradedLittle Mix performances with a littlebit of beat-boxing.

Queen of Jamaican Accents

Any Little Mix fan will know that Jesy is hilarious. Whether she’s impersonating Chris Lilley or joking with Little Mix, she's a comedian. That being said few things make us laugh more than this interview in which Jesy was asked to do a Jamaican accent. She’s since cleared up that she was just clearing her voice at the timebut that doesn’t make it any less funny.

Queen of Choreography

Watch any Little Mix performance or video and Jesy will always be serving next level choreo. All four dance amazingly but each have mentioned in interview that it comes most naturally to Jesy. Whether it’s when she's giving us the finger snap in ‘Black Magic’ or workingthe floorography in the ‘Touch’ video, Jesy never fails to deliver her dance moves like a superstar.

Queen of Comebacks

At the end of last year Mel C made some negative comments about Little Mix. She said in an interview that she thought that they had gotten too ‘provocative’. ‘They are all gorgeous and great singers. But they weren't sexy and it's got more and more that way. I love them – but I just say, "Stay you".’ As if it wasn’t possible for Little Mix to become more confident in their bodies and their sexuality with time. As if Little Mix weren’t sexy when they were more covered up?Ever the provocateur though, Jesy responded to the jibe with a ‘Too provocative?’ dress at the Radio 1 Teen Awards shortly afterwards. Amazing.

Queen of Knowing What She's Worth

This year Little Mix finally won their first Brit Award for Best British Single. All of the girls were grateful to receive the honour but they were also keen to let their fans know that they deserved it. Girl groups are too often snubbed at the Brits and Jesy cracked us all up in a backstage interview in which she re-enacted Sarah Harding’s comments after Girls Aloud won their first Brit in 2009. ‘It’s about bloody time’. As the most successful girl group in the UK right now, it was certainlyabout bloody time.

So there we have it – Jesy Nelson. A star.

Happy Birthday - Jesy!

Words: Sam Prance

WATCH LITTLE MIX’S POWER VIDEO HERE!