Jade Amelia Thirlwall was born on 26 December 1992, and raised in the Laygate neighbourhood of South Shields, Tyne and Wear. She has one-quarter Egyptian ancestry and one-quarter Yemeni ancestry. She also auditioned for The X Factor in 2008 and 2010 but got eliminated at Bootcamp stage. She attended performing arts college South Tyneside, where she studied a range of courses. She revealed in the group's book, Our World, that she struggled with anorexia nervosa after experiencing bullying at school, and the death of her grandfather. Jade is a supporter of the LGBT community, and she considers RuPaul her idol. She has been in a relationship with The Struts bassist Jed Elliot since January 2016.
