Cancellation '˜handled quite poorly' says aunt

Kyra Thompson, 23, had bought her niece Lyla-Grace, 9, tickets to Thursday evening’s show for her birthday last August but was left to break the upsetting news that both Little Mix concerts were cancelled after one of the members fell sick.

“I had planned a whole day for Lyla-Grace. We were out shopping in Belfast and were going to have a sleepover,” Kyra said.

“I got a text at 2.15pm to say that the evening concert had been cancelled but I had actually found out about 45 minutes before that when my brother rang me.

“I thought he was joking at the start but then it turned out to be true.

“I think it was very late notice and it was handled quite poorly.

“I’m more disappointed for my niece.

“She had been talking about it for months and she was really sad. It was such a let down.”

Promotions firm Aiken said that both shows were sold out, and that roughly 8,000 people per show had been affected.

There was little more information available on how ill the singer Jesy was, with a post on the group’s Twitter page apologising for the cancellation and saying just that she was “unwell and unable to sing”.

It was due to be Waringstown Primary School pupil Lyla-Grace’s first concert but she will now have to wait until July 2 - the date for the rescheduled Little Mix concerts at the SSE Arena.

Kyra, who works in London as a Marketing Assistant for an Accountancy firm, will not be able to attend the rearranged concert that night.

She said: “I got a text at 6pm on Friday to say it had been rescheduled but I can’t attend as I will be at a Beyonce concert in Wembley.

“Both my niece and I are disappointed but someone else will have to take her.

“I’ve told her we can get the tickets refunded if she wants and I’ll bring her to a different concert.”

To make matters worse, some of Lyla-Grace’s friends are going to the LIttle Mix concert on April 19.

“Her friends are getting to go to their concert in a few weeks and Lyla-Grace will have to listen to them talking about it but she’s missing out,” Kyra said.