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Newspaper apologises to Little Mix following front page identity blunder

LONDON, ENGLAND -  JULY 04:   Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall attend as CIROC x Moschino celebrate Pride In London with the hottest party of the summer hosted by Jeremy Scott at MNKY HSE on July 4, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for CIROC Vodka)
The paper mixed up Little Mix stars Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall's names on the cover (David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for CIROC Vodka)

The Metro newspaper has apologised to Little Mix singers Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall after it got their names mixed up in a front page caption about Pinnock's recent pregnancy announcement.

The paper issued an apology on Twitter after the official Little Mix account had called it out for its error.

“In today’s paper, we wrongly captioned pictures of Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock as Jade Thirlwall," Metro tweeted. "We are sorry for the error and are happy to set the record straight.”

They then quote tweeted their own tweet and wrote, “We’re mortified. An apology.”

The apology came after Pinnock, 29, criticised the newspaper for the mistake via the band's Twitter account: “Why is it the two women of colour are always mistaken for each other? 10 years in and still this is happening.”

“This is the type of s**t Jade and I have had to deal with for 10 years and this is another reason as to why I was fuelled to make my doc. #DOBETTER Leigh x”

The Metro's front page featured the black and white picture of Perrie Edwards and footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain that they used announcing their pregnancy on Monday, with Oxlade-Chamberlain cradling Edwards’ bump. Inset was Pinnock and Gray's pregnancy photo announcement from the previous week.

However, the caption in the top right hand corner of the front page read:

“Shout Out To My Ex-pecting: Perrie with dad-to-be Alex and [inset] Jade with Andre."

Andre Gray and Leigh-Anne Pinnock of Little Mix pose for photographers upon arrival at the Brit Awards in London, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Andre Gray and Leigh-Anne Pinnock pose for photographers upon arrival at the Brit Awards in London, 2019. (Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)

On her Instagram story Thirlwall, 28, shared a screenshot of Pinnock’s tweet writing, “here we go again.”

Pinnock’s documentary, Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop and Power which is set to air on 13 May on BBC One at 9pm, and will detail the singer’s own experience of racism as well as her fiancé’s.

Read more: Little Mix's Leigh-Anne Pinnock felt invisible as 'token black girl' in the band

Talking about the documentary, she said: “Conversations surrounding racism and colourism are something I constantly have with my boyfriend and family."

"Systemic racism is complex; through making this documentary I want to learn how I can best lend my voice to the debate so that the young people who look up to me won't have to face what me and my generation have had to."

Watch: Leigh-Anne Pinnock announces pregnancy