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Jesy Nelson has declared she ‘took some time off to rest’ in the wake of her twins’ devastating health battle, as she showed off her new hair transformation in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
The singer, 34, revealed in January her now nine-month-old twins, Ocean and Story, had been diagnosed with SMA Type 1, a rare muscle-wasting condition, and has since been focused on caring for her little ones.
After paying a visit to hairstylist Chris Southern, Jesy proudly showed off her freshly-done blonde refresh and blow dry, with music in the post declaring she was ‘back’.
The lyrics, taken from the track Game Time by Thebosswives, said: ‘Took some time off to rest and now it’s game time b*****s.’
Since her twins were diagnosed, Jesy has been campaigning for the NHS to introduce newborn testing on babies for SMA1, having said that a late diagnosis meant her twins are unable to ever walk.
Last week she celebrated a huge victory after Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced plans for more than 400,000 babies to be screened for the condition from October 2026.
Celebrating the news, Jesy took to her Instagram and wrote: ‘A big step forward for SMA, ISE have announced to start screening for SMA in England will now begin in October 2026. I am so proud as this is a major milestone for the SMA community’.
The singer has campaigned tirelessly for the NHS to expand its screening to check for spinal muscular atrophy following her own experience with her daughters.
The pilot will see an estimated 400,000 babies tested in England.
The NHS currently carries out ‘heel prick’ tests on babies at around five-days-old to check for just 10 treatable conditions, including cystic fibrosis.
In a letter addressed to the singer and Giles Lomax, chief executive of SMA UK, Streeting said: ‘At our meeting I committed to seeing whether the in-service evaluation of SMA screening could be implemented faster and cover a wider geographical areas.
‘I am pleased to confirm that [screening] will now start in October this year rather than January 2025 as previously planned.’
Despite her nine-month-old daughters’ devastating prognosis they may not live beyond the age of two, Jesy last month explained that despite the tragic news, she has decided to keep filming her Prime Video series as she fights to ‘make a change’.
In a Q&A, she said: ‘I just hope people continue to watch the next part of the journey. When the girls got their diagnosis, we decided that we wanted to continue filming.
‘As hard as it was, we were like, ‘You know what? There’s a reason you guys are here, and we’ve got to make the best out of this situation’.’
Jesy previously told the Daily Mail the medical procedures her babies must endure each day leave her feeling like she’s hurting them as they cry and scream.
She described caring for the twins as an emotional rollercoaster, with some days being ‘really f***ing s***’ and others slightly lighter.
Jesy and ex-partner Zion never expected to be caring for their babies in such a way, and Jesy says having to provide for their medical needs is a daily struggle.
She said: ‘Every day is so full-on – I can speak about it, but I’ll never be able to explain how intense it is until you see it.
Speaking to Jamie Laing on his Great Company podcast, Jesy said she is hopeful that her babies will defy the odds now that they are receiving treatment and go on to have a longer life expectancy.
She explained: ‘So spinal muscular atrophy is a muscular wasting disease, so they don’t have a gene that we all have in our body.
‘Their muscles are now deteriorating and wasting away, and if you don’t get them treatment in time, eventually the muscles will all just die, which then affects the breathing, the swallowing, everything. And they will die before the age of two.
‘It’s not okay, but it is what it is, and I just have to accept it, and now just try and make the best out of this situation… And my girls are the strongest, most resilient babies and I really believe that they are going to defy all the odds.’
