Jade Thirlwall makes ‘brutal swipe at Simon Cowell’ with her new single It Girl as fans pick up on thinly-veiled lyrics from the track

Jade Thirlwall has seemingly taken a dig at her former music manager Simon Cowell with thinly-veiled lyrics in her new single.

The former Little Mix star, 32, started up her solo career in 2024 with the track Angel of My Dreams and followed that up with Fantasy.

But she released her third single It Girl on Friday and fans were quick to spot a certain lyric that appeared to be a dig to her former boss.

The singer found global fame in 2011, when she won The X Factor alongside Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jesy Nelson and Perrie Edwards.

They went on to huge success under the guidance of the music mogul, but Jade had initially auditioned for the ITV talent show twice before.

She only made it to the Bootcamp stage of the show, and in her new single, the lyric ‘It’s a no from me’ is repeated several times.

The words were a catchphrase uttered by Simon when he was a judge on the series, and fans believe that it was a direct hit toward him.

One fan wrote on X: ‘The ‘It’s a no from me’ reference in the end is a masterpiece’

Another said: ‘omg is that Simon Cowell shade’

A third said: ‘I think it is shade to Simon Cowell because before Little Mix Jade auditioned 3 times.

‘The first & second time she was rejected then the third time she was put in to Little Mix.’

And a fourth proclaimed: ‘The ‘It’s a no from me’ reference in the end is a masterpiece.’

Despite this, representatives for Cowell have previously explained that the Little Mix team ‘worked incredibly hard’ to make them the success that they became.

The group went on hiatus in 2021, but the reps were certain that there was no bad blood between them.