WITH huge smiles, cheering crowds and an incredible ten-year career of hits under their belt, Little Mix went out with a bang in 2022 as they completed their biggest ever UK tour.

Backstage, Perrie Edwards knew she was about to enter an exciting new chapter of her life because, just as the girl group was preparing to go on a break, she was secretly expecting her second child.

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But in a devastating new interview, the singer revealed that, months later, she lost her baby at 24 weeks.

Perrie, 32, who now has son Axel with footballer fiance Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, said she had discovered she was pregnant again “not even a year” after his birth.

She recalled: “I was rehearsing for the last Little Mix tour, and I thought, ‘I don’t feel good’. Every symptom under the sun. I was like, ‘I think I’m pregnant’.”

But as her pregnancy progressed past the five-month mark, Perrie began to suspect that medics had spotted something wrong with her unborn baby.

‘Loved being pregnant’

She said: “We went for what was a 20-week scan, but we were actually 22 weeks, and that was just the worst day of my life. Like, horrendous.

“I just knew something was wrong in the scan. I’ve never experienced an out-of-body experience where everything goes in slow motion.”

Two weeks later, Perrie and Alex were given the heartbreaking news that there was no heartbeat. She said: “So then I remember sobbing. Alex was injured at the time and couldn’t really drive.

“He was struggling to drive, but I couldn’t see straight. I was just distraught. We basically lost the baby at, like, 24 weeks.”

Perrie bravely opens up about her anguish on the We Need To Talk podcast with Paul C Brunson, out this morning.

And she revealed Axel, who turns four on Thursday, was a “rainbow baby” — the term used for a tot born after a previous pregnancy loss.

The star explained: “I had a miscarriage very early on with my first ever pregnancy.

“I remember finding out I was pregnant. Obviously, I started bleeding not long after, and I went to hospital and I had the scan and they were like, ‘There’s no baby.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, I’ve made this up.

“Maybe I got a false positive or something’. I remember being on my own at the appointments.” Perrie said of the cherished son she went on to have in August 2021: “Axel’s a rainbow baby.”

In heartbreaking detail, she also recalled how she had already planned out her baby’s bedroom before her second miscarriage.

She admitted: “It’s weird, because the first time it happened, I think because it was so early, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s hard’.

“But I think when you’re 24 weeks and you’ve planned out that room and all these things, it’s really hard. And nobody knows other than immediate friends and family.

“I remember shortly after, friends would message and be like, ‘How’s the bump?’ And I’d be like, ‘There is no bump’.”

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The You Go Your Way singer said her first pregnancy loss had made her naturally apprehensive when she learned she was expecting Axel.

She explained: “When I was pregnant with him, I loved being pregnant, it was one of the happiest times of my life. I just love carrying babies.

“And it was lovely. But I was a bit on edge, thinking, ‘Oh gosh, I want to get past the 12 weeks. I want to get past this’. And when I get past every scan, that pregnancy was complete bliss, it was perfect.”

Thankfully, Perrie had former England midfielder Alex, 32 — who fans nickname The Ox — by her side. The couple have been together since 2017 and got engaged in 2022.

I didn’t even want to meet anybody. I was like, that’s me done. I don’t think I could bear that pain.

Perrie Edwards

Their relationship came two years after Perrie’s engagement to first love Zayn Malik, of One Direction, fell apart before millions of fans.

They had met in 2011, when X Factor stars One Direction returned to perform on the series of the singing contest that Little Mix won.

Months later, they were a fully fledged couple, but it was never plain sailing. Zayn was alleged to have cheated with an Australian waitress in a London club, and was later hit with more claims of infidelity.

In 2013, he demonstrated his commitment by getting a portrait of Perrie tattooed on his arm and even bought her mum a house in Dorset.

But in 2015, they split — and she was left devastated, with reports at the time that he had ended their almost four-year romance by text.

The ordeal inspired one of Little Mix’s biggest hits, the chart-topping Shout Out To My Ex.

‘Always the underdogs’

However, Perrie held a dignified silence on the ins and outs of their relationship and how it ended.

Reflecting on it now, she explained: “I think definitely, at the time, I thought everything we experienced in our relationship was normal. Because it was my first relationship, first love.

“I was like, ‘Oh, this is how it’s supposed to feel. It’s supposed to feel a little bit toxic. In some ways, this is probably normal, right?’.

“And then, when I became single, I was almost thinking, ‘I never, ever want to go through that again’. I didn’t even want to meet anybody. I was like, that’s me done. I don’t think I could bear that pain.

“But now, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, that probably wasn’t good’. And I’ve noticed it a lot.

“Like in the start of the relationship, I would handle things differently with Alex, and he’d come at it with such a level head that it would throw me.”

On what kind of man Alex is, Perrie continued: “He’s very mature. He’s very laid back. He’s very level-headed.

“He’s not the type to get mad or get angry or get funny about things. It might sound boring to some, but it’s so unproblematic.”

During her time in Little Mix, Perrie — alongside Jade Thirlwall, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and, up until the end of 2020, Jesy Nelson — sold over 75million records, released six albums, had five No1 singles and became the first girl band in 41 years to win the British Group gong at the Brit Awards.

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Since then, she has signed a deal with Columbia Records, which has a roster featuring Adele, Beyonce and Harry Styles, and released a handful of solo singles, including Forget About Us, which peaked at No10 last year.

This Friday, Perrie is back with her latest single, If He Wanted To He Would. But she still feels like Little Mix were underestimated.

She said: “I still think they looked at us and thought it was four little girls in a pop group.

“I don’t think they really saw the graft and the dedication and the numbers and the success that we had. I still think people kind of overlook it a little bit.

“And we were always the underdogs. Like from the very beginning, it was like, ‘You won’t do very well. Bands don’t do that well and it won’t last’.

“That’s what gave us the fire in our bellies to want to work so hard to prove everybody wrong.”

Despite her later success, the Black Magic singer had a tough childhood as she was born with oesophageal atresia, a condition where the oesophagus doesn’t fully develop, and she was in and out of hospital as a youngster.

She told the podcast: “I was there every other week for an operation, so I was used to being put to sleep.

“Instead of counting down from ten, I’d be like, ‘Meet me downstairs in a van,’ (singing), off I went.”

It was Perrie’s passion and talent for singing which meant her mum Debbie was always confident she would make it in music.

She said: “I remember sobbing that I failed my GCSEs, and my mum was like, ‘It’s OK, darling, you’re going to be a singer’.

“I was like, ‘Why is she such an irresponsible parent? I’m never going to get a job.’ And she was like, ‘Well, you’re not going to need a job. You’re going to be a singer’.”