Chris Hughes and Jesy Nelson planned to have ‘lots of babies’ before split as Little Mix star appears in his BBC doc
JESY Nelson revealed that she “wanted to be with Chris Hughes for the rest of her life” and planned on having “lots of babies” before their shock split in lockdown.
The Little Mix singer, 29, made the revelation on the new BBC documentary Me, My Brother and Our Balls, which aired on the channel tonight after premiering on iPlayer last month.
The pop star admitted that she would stick by the reality star even if Chris was infertile and unable to have kids.
In the programme, Chris confessed that he fears he’ll never have children with Jesy after having an operation on his testicles.
Chris, 27, was told he had a low sperm-count after being diagnosed with varicoceles – a testicular vein condition – when he was younger.
The reality star underwent three operations to deal with the condition and he has also made the decision to freeze his sperm.
In scenes captured before their split, Chris tells Jesy that his brother’s chances of having children are very low.
He explains: “Essentially through sperm retrieval, the doctor has given him about a 20 per cent chance of retrieving any sperm – which is low.
“Obviously he’s my brother and if there is problem in the family with fertility I want to get myself checked out, I want to know what I’m producing.”
He added: “Five or six years ago I had my operation, I haven’t done anything since. I haven’t been for the checkups that I was meant to go for my varicoceles to check it was all okay because I feel okay.
“That’s the problem you could feel fine but you can have things going that you don’t know about.”
The Holiday singer opened up about her relationship with the reality star admitting that she “loved him” and would have stuck by him “whether they had kids or not.”
Jesy said: “Chris is a very confident person but he does worry about a lot of things, he gets a lot of anxiety and does stress about things and I think this is one thing that plays on his mind a lot.
“The thought of the fact that he might be infertile does play on his mind a lot, I think that would worry a lot of men, I think especially for Chris because I know he wants to have kids.”
She revealed that he was “the one that made her happy” and “wanted to be with Chris for the rest of her life.”
Jesy added: “I just want to be with Chris for the rest of my life, he’s the one that makes me happy – whether we had kids or not if won’t affect anything.
“All I can do is just be there for him and someone that loves him just keep an eye on him and hopefully it will be alright.”
Chris decided to take matters into his own hands by donning a pair of pants with a built in ice cooler.
He told Jesy: “I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands to cool down my testicles. Touch me there. It’s nice and refreshing and cooling my balls down, it’s numbing them in a good way.”
Jesy jokes: “What on earth is that, it feels like an ice pack, why have you got that? You have a little pouch, you’re like a kangaroo.”
In the documentary, he previously revealed he “learnt things about male fertility” that “surprised” him.
He said: “I want a family and I want to have a child and everything with my testicles have become so much more important.
“The thing that we’ve realised is that we shouldn’t be taking our fertility for granted, it’s staggering that we’ve waited until our late 20s to do something about that. We must talk about it most definitely.”
Varicocele is a condition which sees an enlargement of the veins within the scrotum and is a common cause of decreased sperm quality.
He added: “Fertility is often a subject that guys don’t consider until it might be too late, so I’m hoping this documentary will raise awareness and help men who might be struggling with these issues.”
In the one-off doc, Chris called the Little Mix star after being told by doctors the quality of his sperm has improved after undergoing several operations to treat his varicocele.
Chris is heard reassuring his ex-girlfriend that they could have “three or four babies”.
He shared: “I’ve just got to tell her the good news. It’s been a worry for us both, so.
“Oh Jessica, I have a lot of sperm and they’re very, very active. I’m really happy.”
To which, Jesy replied: “Yay, so we can have lots of babies?” and Chris answered: “I think we can probably have three or four.”
Sadly their plans haven’t come to fruition as they split five months later after 16 month together.
Chris is currently single, although he has been linked to several women including Lottie Moss and Mary Bedford, while Jesy is now in a relationship with actor Sean Sagar, 30.
Despite the couple splitting, Chris said it was important to show his and Jesy’s conversations about fertility.
The Love Island star revealed that his brother Ben had been diagnosed with testicular cancer just weeks after he had his balls checked on This Morning to raise awareness.
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Chris shocked viewers when he appeared naked from the waist down for the check with Dr Chris Steele – as part of the annual men’s health Movember campaign.
The star shared a throwback photo with his brother urging other men to get themselves checked, he wrote: “Testicular cancer is a silent killer, men need realise this and check themselves regularly. It takes 10 seconds. Please do it.”
Thankfully, five months after revealing the news, Chris updated fans to reveal his brother was cancer-free.