Perrie Edwards says The Saturdays were cut from Little Mix Brits speech in awkward Mollie King exchange

Perrie Edwards has claimed The Saturdays were cut from Little Mix's Brits acceptance speech in an awkward chat with Mollie King about why her group was snubbed.

When Little Mix became the first girl group to win the British Group award at the Brit Awards last week, they gave a shout out to all the female giants of the UK music industry who had come before them.

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But there was a notable exception - so BBC Radio 1 presenter Matt Edmondson decided to get Edwards to call his co-host Mollie King during their show to explain where her mention was.

Surprising King with the call, Edmondson said: "Hi Perrie from Little Mix! Now I don't want to make this too awkward. I want to make it a bit awkward but not too awkward. Let's remind ourselves of the brilliant speech thanking the many giants who came before you.

"Spice Girls, Sugababes, All Saints, Girls Aloud, all incredible female bands. Hmm. Is there anyone in there you think might be missing?"

Edwards explained that she had championed The Saturdays but had been shot down when bandmate Jade Thirlwall asked to include Bananarama, too.

She said: "You know what, in the dressing room I did flag this and say we would have to list The Saturdays and then Jade said what about Banarama? What about all the greats?

"And then everyone was like you can't stand there and list every single girl band, just do four and move on, honestly Mollie I had your back. Don't you worry."

But Edmondson said: "I think that makes it worse. It was considered and they were cut."

In their awards speech, Little Mix said: "The fact that a girl band has never won this award really does speak volumes.

"This award isn’t just for us, it’s for The Spice Girls, Sugababes, All Saints, Girls Aloud. All of the incredible, incredible female bands – this one’s for you.”

After their shout-out, Little Mix revealed they had received a bouquet of flowers from Geri Horner to thank them for their kind dedication.

Watch: Little Mix make history with Brit Awards win