Jesy Nelson has responded to the backlash against her new music video Boyz.

The former Little Mix singer, 30, was accused of black fishing - the practice of a non-black person trying to appear black - after sharing the video online last Friday.

Speaking out during an Instagram Live with US rapper Nicki Minaj, who features in the song and video, Jesy said that she never intended to cause offence and her intention had been to “celebrate” the music she loves and has grown up with.

She said: “I personally want to say that my intention was never, ever to offend people of colour with this video and my song because like I said, growing up as a yong girl, this is the music that I listened to.

“These are the videos that I watched and thought were the best. For me personally, ‘90s/2000 hip-hop, R&B music, was the best era of music.

“I just wanted to celebrate that era of music because it is what I love.”

She added: “My intention was never, ever, ever to offend anyone and genuinely it actually does really hurt me that I may have offended people and actually, like, hurt people’s feelings just by genuinely celebrating something that I love.”

Addressing comments that she had darkened her skin in the video, the singer who hails from Essex explained that she had returned from a holiday to Antigua prior to shooting the video and that her skin tans easily.

She also said that her hair is naturally curly after criticism was aimed at her hairstyle, adding: “I genuinely didn’t think I was doing anything wrong, because I’ve got naturally curly hair.