Singer Jade Thirlwall pointedly sang her Little Mix hit Shout Out To My Ex at the Lollapalooza Music Festival in Chicago following her split from Jordan Stephens. Reports emerged last month that the 33-year-old singer had separated from the 34-year-old Rizzle Kicks star after six years together.
Thirlwall got roars from the crowd and appeared in her element as she belted out the lyrics. Her choice to cover the track from her Little Mix heyday was hailed as iconic by fans in light of her new single status.
During the set, she sang: "Shout out to my ex, you're really quite the man, You made my heart break and that made me who I am. Here's to my ex, hey, look at me now, well, I, I'm all the way up, I swear you'll never bring me down."
A festival goer shared a clip of the performance on Instagram, prompting a wave of supportive comments. Fans wrote: "Singing this after she just broke up with her ex" and "Iconic." Other users added: "What an amazing set she had" and "Oh Jade! My queen! What a move."
Jordan Stephens Podcast Response
Stephens, meanwhile, addressed his personal life in the latest episode of his podcast Miss Me? with Miquita Oliver. Explaining that he has never had a high-profile relationship before, he addressed how complex and difficult relationships can be and hinted that more will come out.
He told listeners: "I think I'm uncomfortable with even the concept of it being out. I've never experienced, I've never been in a high profile relationship really so I think I'm very conflicted because I definitely pride myself on being open and transparent and I like to pull apart experiences of my own in the hope that it can create insight or like create conversation."
He noted that fast speculation makes speaking publicly challenging: "But I think this is a difficult one because if I'm to believe how quickly speculation can arise. I'm always like a couple words or sentences away from either making something worse."
Future Comments And Emotional Recovery
Suggesting he will open up when he is ready, Stephens added: "I'm definitely going to talk and write I think once things have settled a little bit. Obviously I'm not going to avoid something that's quite obvious that's been a thing. I don't want to like pretend like that isn't happening or hasn't happened but I also want to make it clear that it's so bizarre."
Stephens continued: "I'm a very transparent person and things will come out when necessary and I don't mean to be too cryptic, it really isn't that deep, well I mean it is deep for me but I mean I think it's really important that whatever you may think as an everyday normal human... Like how complex and difficult relationships can be, there's no difference, you don't get any exemptions. There's no unusual subjective feeling when you also have followers. It just doesn't work like that. Grief does not or anything like that or any powerful emotion doesn't discriminate."
He added: "My main point is I want to protect people. I don't want to quite get into it."
Thanking fans for kind comments, he said: "Honestly, I've still not processed it. I will say that I think, overall, people are kind. I have had some really kind and interesting things that have arisen. In truth things go up and down and in and out all the time."
Relationship History And Social Media
Thirlwall previously appeared to hint at their split in an interview weeks before it emerged that their relationship was over. She shared at the time that she was going through something privately and stated while discussing writing her upcoming second album that she was channeling everything that had happened in her life into her new music.
The former couple, who were pictured together in May 2025, are said to have separated earlier this year. They previously lived together, splitting their time between properties in London and Margate, in Kent.
Stephens has since wiped all trace of Thirlwall from his Instagram account. Thirlwall has likewise removed all images of the singer from her own page.
