Ally Brooke was with Fifth Harmony from 2012 until 2018 as she belted out hit songs like Work From Home with her band mates Camila Cabello, Normani Kordei, Dinah Jane and Lauren Jauregui.

But on Wednesday the Texas native, 27, shared during the debut of her podcast The Ally Brooke Show, which can be found on her YouTube page, that she did not ‘enjoy’ her time with the all-girl group.

The blonde beauty stated that she had to endure ‘mental and verbal abuse’ when with the band: ‘There was so much toxicity!’
Ally Brooke opens up about Fifth Harmony members facing ‘abuse’

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How she sees it: Ally Brooke shared during the debut of her podcast The Ally Brooke Show, which can be found on her YouTube page, that she did not ‘enjoy’ her time with the all-girl group Fifth Harmony

The band: She was with Fifth Harmony from 2012 until 2018 as she belted out hit songs like Work From Home with her band mates Camila Cabello, Normani Kordei, Dinah Jane and Lauren Jauregui. Seen in 2016

And she felt she had no one to complain to as a label head tried to ‘take advantage’ of her, even giving her a thong when she she went for help. She did not name the person.

During her podcast, Ally made it clear she did not ‘enjoy’ her time with the band.

‘I didn’t love it,’ she stated.

‘It was hard because there was so much going on. So much behind the scenes, so much toxicity, so much abuse, so much about of power, so much mental abuse, verbal abuse, and it’s just horrible and to me, it’s a shame because we were so big. I should have enjoyed myself more.’

She felt it was abuse: The blonde beauty stated that she had to endure ‘mental and verbal abuse’ when with the band: ‘There was so much toxicity!’

She blamed the group’s label. The group signed a joint record deal with Simon Cowell’s label Syco Records and L.A. Reid’s label Epic Records after forming and finishing third in the second season of the American singing competition series The X Factor in 2012.

But Ally made sure to not name any specific person at her label during her podcast.

The star claimed the singers were made to feel ‘inferior’ and ‘uncomfortable.’

And it is hard for her to look back on the glory days of Fifth Harmony. ‘I’ll look at a music video and all I’ll remember is how I felt that day. How I felt super insecure, or how I felt let down or how I felt like I wasn’t good enough,’ Brooke said.

The crooner hated to be told she ‘wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t cool enough.’

Not the best time: During her podcast, Ally made it clear she did not ‘enjoy’ her time with the band. ‘I didn’t love it,’ she stated

She added: ‘I wasn’t valued, nobody cared about me. It was awful but I also try to remember the good times.’

And the ladies had to push to get their voice on the tracks, which created a competitive environment.

‘At times, it definitely felt competitive,’ she said.

Brook then added, ‘Later on, it did get better and in some moments, there were moments for me to shine and feel like I could contribute but that was really, really hard.’

Fifth Harmony hits the red carpet in black at 2016 MTV VMAs

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The band in 2017: Dinah Jane, Normani, Lauren and Ally onstage during the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum in Inglewood, California

Toxic: ‘It was hard because there was so much going on. So much behind the scenes, so much toxicity, so much abuse, so much about of power, so much mental abuse, verbal abuse, and it’s just horrible and to me, it’s a shame because we were so big. I should have enjoyed myself more,’ she said. Seen with Normani, Dinha and Lauren in 2017

The experience took a toll on her confidence. Being called the ‘big one’ of the band ate away at her.

‘People said I was the fat one and all these things and especially in one moment when we were shooting a music video we were in bathing suits and I didn’t feel at my best,’ she said.

‘And then there were paparazzi pictures that came out and people made fun of me so much and it was horrible.’

When the group was breaking up, she went to a label head for advice but was not comforted.

Fifth Harmony’s Ally Brooke harassed while performing on stage

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She moved on: Cabello went on to sing the hit song Senorita with real life beau Shawn Mendes; seen in 2019

‘I show up to meet with him and he gives me a freaking thong. I know what he was trying to do. I was humiliated,’ Ally said.

‘I was going there super vulnerable [asking for help]… At the time, that behavior was accepted.’

No one appreciated how she tried to make everyone in the band happy, she claimed.

‘I was that mom. I tried to keep us together as a unit. It was very, very hard,’ she shared adding she at times felt like no one would help her.

‘There’s a weird balance of being grateful and being okay with the fact that things were not okay for me,’ she said. ‘It was traumatizing.’

Scars: And it is hard for her to look back on the glory days of Fifth Harmony. ‘I’ll look at a music video and all I’ll remember is how I felt that day. How I felt super insecure, or how I felt let down or how I felt like I wasn’t good enough,’ Brooke said. The crooner hated to be told she ‘wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t cool enough’

And it was shame as their band did so much for girl groups: ‘I’m going to say how proud I am of Fifth Harmony, of what we did, of what we did for music, what we did for female empowerment, what we did for girl groups. We will be in the history books, y’all.’

The Ally Brooke Show airs each Wednesday on Brooke’s YouTube.

Last year Brooke said she has learned to trust her gut instinct during the course of her career. By trusting her gut, she’s managed to successfully navigate the toughest moments in her professional life. She shared: ‘I learned that even at the top, [you can’t] lose yourself.

‘It’s very easy for people in this business to try to take away your voice … and try to bully you. Remembering who I am and my values and my faith in that God has a greater plan beyond what I can see. That is what got me through the hard times, you know, the grueling times, but also the amazing times.’

Fifth Harmony’s Ally Brooke reveals ‘I’m a 27-year-old virgin’

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Trying new things: Brooke posed at Dancing With The Stars Season 28 in 2019

Ally trusted her gut instinct in December 2016, when Camila announced her exit from the group. At the time, the chart-topping band – who have been on hiatus since March 2018 – came under pressure from record executives who were keen to dictate how they moved forward. She told Elite Daily: ‘There were a lot of ideas from our management.’

One executive suggested starting a reality TV show to find Camila’s replacement, but Ally and her bandmates held firm. She said: ‘[We were] just like, “No, that would be really weird … we’ve been through a lot, there’s a history we have together, so it’s definitely best to stay us four.”

‘We learned to follow our gut and stay true to that, even when different opinions were coming to us. That was a lesson I would learn many times: to listen to what I’m feeling, and I was proud of us for sticking to that.’