Perrie Edwards Biography • English Singer

Perrie Louise Edwards is an English singer and member of the British girl group Little Mix. The band was formed on the eighth series of The X Factor in 2011 and became the first band ever to win the show. The band have since sold over 60 million records worldwide throughout their career, making them one of the best-selling girl groups of all time.

Early Life

Perrie Louise Edwards was born on 10 July 1993, and raised in the Whiteleas area of South Shields, Tyne and Wear. She is of Swedish, Irish, Scottish, and English ancestry. She is the daughter of Deborah “Debbie” Duffy and Alexander Edwards, who are both singers. Her parents divorced when she was young and have both remarried. She also has an older brother named Jonnie Edwards and a paternal half-sister named Caitlin Edwards. Edwards attended Radipole Primary School in Weymouth, Dorset before moving back to South Shields. She attended St. Peter and Paul RC Primary School, and Mortimer Community College in South Shields, and later transferred to Newcastle College, where she received a BTEC in Performing Arts. Edwards lived in Hamilton, New Zealand for two years as a teenager.

Career

Her first audition on The X Factor was “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette. After she failed the first bootcamp challenge to progress through to the Girls category (solo females aged 16-24), Edwards was then placed in a four-piece group named “Faux Pas” alongside Jesy Nelson. Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock were in another group called “Orion”. Both groups, however, failed to progress. Later, a decision was made by the judges to bring back the four to form the four-piece group Rhythmix, and they progressed to judges’ houses. They eventually reached the live shows and were mentored and loved by Tulisa Contostavlos. On 28 October 2011, it was announced that the band’s new name would be Little Mix. On 11 December 2011, Little Mix were announced as the winners, making them the first band ever to win the show.

Edwards has released six albums with the band, DNA (2012), Salute (2013), Get Weird (2015), Glory Days (2016), LM5 (2018) and Confetti (2020). In 2019, she became the new face for the Italian brand Superga and released her first designed collection of shoes. In 2020, Edwards become the first female ambassador for the brand “Supreme Nutrition”. Later that year, Edwards was revealed as the new face of Nando’s, a Portuguese-African food franchise. She also appeared in their television advertisements.

Personal Life

In May 2012, she began dating singer Zayn Malik. The couple became engaged in August 2013 but broke up in August 2015. In February 2017, it was confirmed that she is dating English professional footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. On 10 May 2021, Edwards announced that she was expecting her first child with Oxlade-Chamberlain.