Fifth Harmony star admits she had to ‘suppress’ memories from X Factor girl group

Normani Kordei is breaking her silence on her Fifth Harmony days, when the singer faced nearly constant criticism and hate online, saying there are some memories she simply doesn’t have anymore for her own safety. 

Fifth Harmony became a pop sensation in 2012 when Ally Brooke, Camila Cabello, Normani Kordei, Dinah Jane and Lauren Jauregui auditioned as soloists for The X Factor and while they had prowess, all five singers didn’t manage to progress in their individual categories. 

They were given a second chance when the judges brought them together to form Fifth Harmony and compete in the group category.

While they later skyrocketed to international success, and infamy, before the band dissolved in 2018, Normani admitted there were some good times she likes to reminisce about. 

Speaking to Rolling Stone ahead of her new album release, the former X Factor gushed: “I always say we did the very best we could with what we had, so that I’m proud of.”

Reflecting on her six years with the girls, the 28-year-old confessed: “There’s so much that I don’t even remember because I suppressed it. 

“That’s just my way of protecting myself from having to deal with everything. But what I do remember is it wasn’t all bad.”

Normani was just 16 when she grew to international fame through the girl group and looking back she now claims part of their “struggle” to adapt to life in the spotlight was due to their young age, jokingly saying: “We were babies.”

She added: “We were so innocent and I think that is the struggle, to your point, of just us having to face reality under very unrealistic circumstances.”

The girl group famously faced a lot of scrutiny as the dynamics between the five singers started to grow sour in the public eye, with many of their live performances still criticized years later as fans claimed each star tried to outshine the next. 

Normani, in particular, fell victim to a lot of online criticism and racism but the singer has taken it all as a learning curve telling Rollign Stone: “It’s just another testament to my resilience. Would I do some things differently or wish that some things were done differently? Of course, but I also don’t want to sit here and make it sound like it wasn’t part of my story.”

In the five years since disbanding, Normani has been busily working her way through collaborations with a number of top artists like Sam Smith, Ariana Grande and Cardi B. 

The 28-year-old is now set to return to music with her debut solo album, Dopamine, a pop and R&B dedication set to drop on June 14.