Jesy Nelson’s estranged dad’s troubled history: from overturned murder conviction to deadly hit-and-run
Jesy feared her dad's past would ruin her careerJesy Nelson, who is appearing in her own Prime Video docuseries, Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix, tomorrow (February 13), opens up about her estranged dad.
The six-part series follows Jesy as she prepares to welcome twins, documenting her experience of a high-risk pregnancy with complete honesty. However, she also documents the hardships she faced growing up and while in the group Little Mix.
Jesy Nelson opens up about estranged dad on docuseries
In the second episode, Jesy talks about her dad, John Nelson, whose dark past was exposed to the public while she was competing on The X Factor in 2011.
At the time, Jesy recalls being pulled into a room by a “PR person” who asked her: “Is there anything you’re not telling me about your childhood?”
Telling them that there wasn’t, she insisted she didn’t “let on that anything had happened in my childhood”.
The Wings hitmaker continued: “He was like, ‘We’ve got a story coming out about your dad.’ And I remember thinking, ‘The [bleep] do you prepare for this?!”
The docuseries cut to newspaper headlines of her father that read: “Little Mix dad jailed over killing.”
Jesy admitted she hadn’t told any of her other group members — Jade Thirlwall, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Perrie Edwards. She was also concerned that the group would be kicked off the show.
“How am I going to potentially now lose my dream because of something my dad did when he was young?” she asked. After, Jesy stated that she got “so much hate” when it came out.
John Nelson’s overturned murder conviction
In 2011, reports revealed that Jesy’s dad, John, was convicted of murder before she was born.
At the time, John was 20 years old when he was involved in a violent brawl in Dagenham, where Amateur boxer Paul Reidy suffered a fatal stabbing.
Witnesses told police they saw Nelson spray ammonia into the faces of two people at the scene before allegedly stabbing the victim.
During a turbulent trial — which led to friends and family members being barred from the courtroom after a confrontation between the two families — John was convicted of murder and affray. However, the murder conviction was later overturned on appeal. However, he still served a prison sentence for affray.
While behind bars, he married his childhood sweetheart, Janis. The couple went on to have four children, including Jesy, before he was released several years later.
At the time of the reports, Jesy, who was 20, hadn’t seen her dad for 15 years.
He was also arrested following a hit-and-run
Five years later, Jesy’s dad made headlines again after a man died in a hit-and-run crash.
John was arrested after his Range Rover was involved in a collision with a motorcycle in Gidea Park, Essex.
The motorcyclist, Craig Voyce — a father of three — was taken to hospital following the crash. Sadly, he later died from his injuries.
Police said the vehicle did not stop after the collision and was later discovered abandoned in a nearby car park.
John was 51 years old at the time and worked as a garden centre owner was later arrested nearby.
He denied driving the vehicle, and authorities said the two men reportedly with him at the time had left the scene.
He told The Sun: “I was not the driver of this vehicle. The police know I was not the driver.”
In 2023, Jesy self-released the song Bad Thing. Lyrically, it was inspired by growing up with a father who was in and out of prison.
Read more: Jesy Nelson finally announces release date for long-awaited Prime Video docuseries
