Why Jesy Nelson's twin baby names aren't a tribute to Little Mix's Jade Thirlwall

19 May 2025, 12:01 | Updated: 19 May 2025, 14:59

Here's how Jesy Nelson's twin baby names aren't a tribute to Little Mix's Jade Thirlwall. Picture: Instagram / Getty

By Abbie Reynolds

Jesy Nelson's twin baby Ocean Jade isn't named after Jade Thirlwall, here's why.

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On Sunday 18th May, former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson announced the premature arrival of her daughters Ocean Jade Nelson-Foster and Story Monroe Nelson-Foster with her partner Zion Foster.

The good news came after a complicated pregnancy in which Jesy underwent emergency surgery as she was 'pre-TTTS' (Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome), which affects identical twins who share a placenta. According to the NHS, it occurs when there’s an imbalanced blood flow between the twins.

After a successful surgery, Jesy was kept in hospital as doctors feared she'd go into early labour. But Jesy and Zion said they were begging their babies to "please, please, please stay in there". And their bundles of joy made it all the way to 31 weeks and 5 days (a full term pregnancy is around 40 weeks), entering the world "healthy and fighting strong".

As Jesy revealed the birth of their daughters, she also announced their names and fans have been linking Ocean's middle name 'Jade' to Jesy's former bandmate Jade Thirlwall.

Read more: Anne-Marie confirms arrival of her baby boy with adorable message

Is Jesy Nelson's baby named after Jade Thirlwall?

Jesy Nelson and Zion Foster with their twins Ocean and Story. Picture: Instagram

What are Jesy Nelson's twin babies' names?

As their usually is with celebrity baby names, there has been an overwhelming response to Jesy's unique names, Ocean and Story, but most of the attention has been on Ocean's middle name Jade.

While many have speculated that this is a sweet tribute to Jade from Little Mix, it's actually a nod to Jesy's older sister Jade Nelson. A source confirmed to The Metro: "Jade was always going to be a middle name as Jesy is very close to her sister. It is a nod to her sister rather than anything else."

Similarly Story's middle name Monroe is a nod to Jesy's late grandmother Monroe, who Jesy referred to as 'Nanny Ginge'. Jesy's Grandmother was a huge part of her life and even featured alongside her in Little Mix's 'Strip' music video, where the girls where also joined by Jade's mum, Norma Thirlwall.

When she passed, Jesy shared a tribute writing: "My beautiful Nanny Ginge, my heart feels so broken I don’t even have the words right now. The most beautiful, kind hearted nanny in the world I feel so proud and so lucky to have shared so many beautiful memories with you.

"I’m gonna miss everything about you, you being cheeky and flirting with all the men and telling them to give you a kiss. Reggie and Oscar are gonna miss sleeping with you so much. I love you with all my heart nanny go rest with the angels now."

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It makes more sense that Jesy would name her children after family as she has become estranged from the Little Mix girls in recent years. Just recently, Perrie Edwards confirmed that they haven't spoken to Jesy since she left the group.

She said: "We talk about it a lot. In the moment, we did everything we could. It’s really sad… we haven’t spoken since she left, I wrote a song about it and every time I listen to it I cry."

Jesy shared the arrival of her babies with the caption: "So…Our beautiful baby girls decided to come at 31weeks plus 5 days. It all happened so quickly, but we are so blessed that they are here with us, healthy and fighting strong! We’ve never felt more in love.

"Everybody meet Ocean Jade Nelson-Foster and Story Monroe Nelson-Foster. Born on 15.05.2025"