Perrie Edwards has revealed that she discovered she has no sense of smell after a fire broke out in her home when she was a child.
The singer, 30, was born without a sense of smell due to complications suffered in the womb – a condition called congenital anosmia.
However, she explained that she had only been diagnosed with the condition when she failed to realise her kitchen was on fire in her childhood home, because she couldn’t smell the burning.
Speaking to Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett OBE on their Dish from Waitrose podcast, Perrie recalled: ‘I couldn’t smell it. Our kitchen had set on fire.
‘I saw the black smoke come under the door. And then I started coughing because it takes your breath away.’
Perrie Edwards has revealed that she discovered she has no sense of smell after a fire broke out in her home when she was a child
The singer, 30, was born without a sense of smell due to complications suffered in the womb – a condition called congenital anosmia
However, she explained that she had only been diagnosed with the condition when she failed to realise her kitchen was on fire in her childhood home, because she couldn’t smell the burning (pictured last month)
Luckily, she and her family escaped unharmed, but the terrifying ordeal was enough to convince her mother to take Perrie for medical tests.
She was soon diagnosed with the rare condition of congenital anosmia, which is thought to affect just one in 10,000 people.
Fellow famous sufferers have included William Wordsworth, INXS singer Michael Hutchence and actor Bill Pullman.
Perrie revealed that she underwent an operation in order to treat the condition, but that the effects did not last long.
She recalled: ‘I had surgery, came out, had big tampons in my nose, recovered for a while. And then I swear to God I could smell coffee. I woke up and smelled the coffee.’
After she lost her ability to smell once again, the doctors said she would need to have the procedure a second time.
However, Perrie opted not to, explaining that she didn’t care about being unable to smell as she had never known what it was like.
She said: ‘I was like, I’m not going through that again. I don’t care. If I had it and lost it, fair enough. But I’ve never had it, so why care?’
Perrie revealed that she underwent an operation in order to treat the condition, but that the effects did not last long and she opted not to have the procedure done again
While losing your sense of smell can often cause people to lose their taste in food, Perrie told Nick and Angela that has never been an issue for her.
She said that she loved food, to the extent that she often struggled to keep to a healthy diet on tour.
She admitted: ‘I’ll be like, I’m eating healthy, nobody talk to me, and then I’m like, Five Guys, what’s going on? I literally, I’m a foodie and I do try to eat healthy.’
Elsewhere in the podcast, Perrie revealed the ‘horrendous’ regret Little Mix had, that almost caused them to get back together prematurely following their split in 2022.
She admitted her and her fellow bandmates Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall initially panicked after they ‘put their foot down’ to go solo.
The band formed alongside Jesy Nelson on The X Factor in 2011, going on to win the show and achieve worldwide success.
However, after over a decade of working hard, Perrie admitted the girls were left ‘bored out of our minds’ after their split with all the free time they suddenly had.
The mother-of-one said that her, Leigh-Anne, 32, and Jade, 31, were texting each other saying they were ‘sick’ of sitting around.
While losing your sense of smell can often cause people to lose their taste in food, Perrie told Nick and Angela that has never been an issue for her
Elsewhere in the podcast, Perrie revealed the ‘horrendous’ regret Little Mix had, that almost caused them to get back together prematurely following their split in 2022 (pictured in 2021)
She admitted her and her fellow bandmates Leigh-Anne Pinnock (right) and Jade Thirlwall (left) initially panicked after they ‘put their foot down’ to go solo
She recalled: ‘I remember we sat at home and we were in a WhatsApp group and we were like, I’m bored. What are you up to today?
‘And Leigh-Anne would be like, “I’m actually sick of this.” And Jade’s like, “Yeah, why did we push for this again?”
‘And I’m like, “We’ve done it now, we have to see it through.” Cause we were like, should we go back? Like, should we just, it was so weird. It was like, that was abnormal to us.
‘We were bored out of our minds, it was horrendous and now I love doing nothing. Like I’m really good at it. So I don’t think I’d like struggle that much. I love working and I love also not working. So I think it’s a good balance.’
Last month, Perrie dropped her second single Tears, the follow-up to April’s Forget About Us.
Her debut solo track was number one for two weeks on the Big Top 40 chart and peaked inside the top 10 of the Official Charts.
Where Forget About Us was an Ed Sheeran pop ballad with country music influence, Tears is smooth soul with an ’80s vibe.
In the song, Perrie laments the tears she wasted on an ex and, while saying she knows she will never get them back, she vows he will never see her cry again.
Describing the inspiration for the track, she said: ‘This song is about coming out of a bad situation and letting go of what has happened in the past.
‘It’s that point where you feel empowered, and you leave the tears behind because you’ve come out the other side. It’s a sultry and smooth track that I’m really excited for you all to hear.’
Last month, Perrie dropped her second single Tears, the follow-up to April’s Forget About Us, which was number one for two weeks on the Big Top 40 chart
