Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jesy Nelson were the first all-female group to win The X Factor in 2011, when they emerged into the pop landscape, unforgivingly styled teenagers created by the Simon Cowell machine. Little Mix, in contrast, have placed care at the heart of their careers, so it’s no surprise that they were professional about when to stop. Pop history is hardly riddled with amicable endings: Spandau Ballet ended up in court Geri abandoned The Spice Girls on a Nordic runway Robbie left Take That under a cloud. Seven Top 5 albums, five Number One singles, two TV talent shows, one ex-member and – as of last summer – three children later, Little Mix maintain that they are “not splitting up”, but it’s undeniable that after more than a decade together, these women deserve the indefinite break they’re about to take. We were witnessing something rare: a celebratory, loving and respectful end to a pop group.

“It’s really starting to sink in that there’s only three shows left,” Jade Thirlwall croaked.

This would have been a horrifying nadir in many a pop star’s live career, but as the backing track to Between Us blared – a love song to one another that the now-trio wrote after attending group therapy – the women smiled through evident tears and pointed their mics towards the masses instead. Little Mix were 40 feet above the crowd at London’s O2 Arena, perched on a floating stage and engulfed in capes of voluminous Day-Glo tulle, when they lost their collective voice.

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