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Who is Leigh-Anne Pinnock?
British singer-songwriter and actress Leigh-Anne Pinnock was born under the zodiac sign Libra on 4 October 1991, in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. She’s perhaps known best for being a member of the British girl group Little Mix, with the other two members being Jade Thirlwall and Perrie Edwards; they met on the singing competition show “The X Factor”, and became the first and so far only girl group to win the competition.
The girls have 19 top 10 singles, with five topping the UK Singles chart; they went on a hiatus in 2022 and Leigh-Anne’s since been focused on her solo career.
Education and early life
Leigh-Anne was raised in High Wycombe alongside her older sisters Sairah and Sian-Louise, by their mixed-race parents John Pinnock and Deborah Thornhill; John’s a car mechanic while Deborah’s a history teacher. Leigh-Anne’s of Jamaican and Barbadian descent, and enjoys spending time in Jamaica.
She became passionate about music while attending a local high school in High Wycombe, and she was also into dancing and playing volleyball during her teenage years. Leigh-Anne’s initial plan was to enroll at college upon matriculating in 2010, however, she instead began working at Pizza Hut as a waitress, wanting to be able to financially support herself and pursue her dream of becoming a famous singer.
Her first experience with organized singing was when she joined Jason Blades’ choir and youth club.
Little Mix
Leigh-Anne and her Little Mix colleagues individually auditioned for the eighth season of “The X Factor” (British version) but all failed to pass further than the bootcamp; they were given another chance and were placed in two groups, but both groups failed to pass to the next stage.
One of the judges, Kelly Rowland decided to form the girl group Rhythmix comprising the above mentioned members of Little Mix plus Jesy Nelson; their name was changed to ‘Little Mix’ after the group had a dispute with children’s music charity Rhythmix. They became the only girl group to pass the show’s seventh live show on 20 November 2011, and won the season on 11 December.
On 1 July 2012, the girls performed their debut single “Wings” for the first time, and it went on to top the UK Singles chart; their autobiography was published on 31 August 2012. Little Mix’s debut studio album “DNA” came out in November 2012, and peaked at #3 on charts in the UK and Northern Ireland; the album’s three singles “Wings”, “DNA” and “Change Your Life” were all successful, and all charted.
The girls’ next single “How Ya Doin’?” peaked at #16 on UK Singles on 20 April 2013.
Little Mix’s second studio album “Salute” came out on 11 November 2013, and its lead single “Move” charted in several countries, including Japan, New Zealand as well as the UK.
They announced “Black Magic” as the lead single from their third album; released in May 2015, it topped the UK Singles chart. Their third studio album “Get Weird” came out on 6 November 2015 and peaked at #2 in the UK and #13 in the U.
It was announced on 21 June 2016 that Little Mix had begun working on their new album “Glory Days”; it was released on 18 November 2016, and topped the UK Albums chart, holding the position for five weeks. The album also topped the charts in Northern Ireland, and peaked at #2 in Australia, while it also charted in Spain, New Zealand and the Netherlands.
Their fifth album “LM5” came out on 16 November 2018, but was less successful than their previous albums.
Little Mix’s sixth album “Confetti” followed on 6 November 2020, and is widely regarded as their best album; not long after its release, it was revealed that Jesy Nelson would be taking an hiatus from performing with the group because of medical reasons, and she officially left the group on 14 December 2020 due to poor mental health.
Little Mix continued as a trio, and released their greatest hits album “Between Us” on 12 November 2021; they went on a hiatus in the following year but have stated that they’re planning to reunite in 2024.
LEIGH-ANNE #CONFETTI 🎊 pic.twitter.com/jm1SguXpHJ
— Little Mix Updates (@_LifeWithLM) September 16, 2020
Solo career
Leigh-Anne signed with Warner Records in February 2022 and released her debut single “Don’t Say Love” on 16 June 2023, while her second single “My Love” followed on 7 September.
Her acting debut was playing Georgia in the 2021 romantic comedy movie “Boxing Day”, which starred Aja Naomi King and Aml Ameen, while Aml also wrote and directed the film; it follows a British author who’s come home to London from the US for Christmas, wanting to introduce his American girlfriend to his family; the movie won a 2022 South African Film and Television Award for Best Made for TV Movie.
Love life and relationships
Leigh-Anne rarely speaks about her love life in public, and we thus know about only one man whom she’s been with. In 2016, Leigh-Anne began dating British-Jamaican professional soccer player Andre Gray who’s today playing for Al-Riyadh of the Saudi Pro League, as well as for the Jamaican national team. The two moved in together in December 2018, and became engaged in 2020; Leigh-Anne gave birth to their twin girls on 16 August 2021, and she and Andre exchanged vows in Jamaica on 3 June 2023.
Leigh-Anne’s married to Andre Gray as of September 2023, and they have twin girls together.
Hobbies and other interests
Back in 2016, Leigh-Anne was attacked by a male customer at a restaurant in London.
She’s today running her own fashion blog ‘Leigh Loves’, and the year 2019 saw her launch her own swimwear brand In’A’Seashell.
Leigh-Anne’s a philanthropist, and launched the charity The Black Fund in 2021, together with her husband Andre and her sisters; she’s also a social justice advocate, and supports the movement Black Lives Matter.
Leigh-Anne also supports the LGBT community, and attended Pride in London in 2019.
Buckinghamshire New University presented Leigh-Anne with an honorary doctorate in July 2023.
One of her favorite actresses is Freema Agyeman, and some of her favorite movies include “Rubenesque”, “Rulers and Dealers” and “Eat Locals”.
Appearance and net worth
Leigh-Anne’s age is 31. She has brown eyes and black hair, weighs around 110lbs (51kgs) and is 5ft 2ins (1.58m) tall.
Leigh-Anne’s net worth’s been estimated at over $2 million, as of September 2023.
