Director of Little Mix's Touch video defends Jesy Nelson over retouching claims

Director X, real name Julien Lutz, also worked on Little Mix's Black Magic video in 2015.

Little Mix were not too upset by the negative reaction to their music video for Touch, according to the clip's director. Fans expressed their outrage in January when it appeared that singer Jesy Nelson had been slimmed-down in the video while other viewers criticised its raunchy nature.

Shot by Director X, the Touch video features Nelson, Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall cosying up to the male dancers while clad in leotards, performing sexualised dance routines. In certain scenes, many argue that Nelson's hips and thighs look slimmer than usual whereas her bandmates seem to be untouched.

Addressing the criticism, Director X, real name Julien Lutz, told BBC's Newsbeat: "I was happy to see the fans say that Jesy is just terrific the way she is and get upset about it." Nelson, 25, has been subjected to body image criticism in the past and recently threatened to block Instagram followers who leave offensive comments under her photos.

Director X also worked on the visuals for Little Mix's number one single Black Magic in 2015 and credits the girl group for taking creative control of their work. Director X added: "For Black Magic, they had a pretty good idea of what they wanted. Little Me was a brief we brought to them, we sold them on it. If you try too hard [to please the fans] it doesn't feel genuine."

The acclaimed filmmaker hails from Toronto, Canada and has worked with an array of high-profile artists, including Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar, R Kelly, Aaliyah, Nicki Minaj and Usher. Director X also shot the much-talked-about visuals for Drake's Hotline Bling, which has surpassed one billion views on YouTube and Vevo.

Little Mix Touch video Jesy Nelson Photoshopped — Little Mix received immense backlash over the visuals for their single Touch Vevo

Reflecting on how the music video industry has changed in recent years, Director X said: "Because videos aren't shown on TV, you have a lot of artists that have hit records and no-one knows who they are or what they look like. I've been to a giant award show here in Canada and Jason Derulo was accepting an award. I was sitting next to a pretty popular rapper and he looked at Jason Derulo and said, 'Who's that guy?'"

Touch appears on Little Mix's chart-topping fourth studio album Glory Days and reached number one on the UK charts.