Jade Thirlwall has called for an age limit to be brought in for pop stars

She told Rolling Stone magazine: "I almost think you shouldn't be allowed to be a star until you're 18. I'm so glad I was turned away and didn't get put in Little Mix until I was 18 - and even then, I feel like that was too young."

Jade admitted she was given good advice by former 'The X Factor' winner Joe McElderry, but she ignored his warnings and ended up making the "same mistakes".

She added: "I remember him saying make sure your mum's there when you're doing all these important signings. But I was too young to understand what he meant, and I made the same mistakes as him."

Jade explained Little Mix got a "really s*** deal" and financial issues came as a bit of a shock: "When you come from a working-class background, you get your advance and think you've made it, but you have to recoup everything back.

"You're getting all these lavish cars and making them wait for ages, but you're footing that bill eventually."

She went on to talk about the tragic death of Liam Payne - who shot to fame as a teenager as part of One Direction on 'The X Factor' - because finding fame was both a "blessing and a curse" for him.

She added: "When the news broke out, it did shake me up because we'd started the same, but we'd ended up on very different paths.

"We both wanted to make it so much and sometimes that is a blessing and a curse to get what you've dreamed of. It's unbelievably tragic."

Payne died in September aged 31 after plunging from the balcony of a hotel where he was staying in Argentina.