Brit Awards 2017: Little Mix give a shout out to their exes as they win Best British Single

Little Mix thanked their former flames as they bagged the Brit Award for Best British Single for their break-up anthem Shout Out To My Ex.

The girls have previously dismissed suggestions that the track was about Perrie Edward's high-profile split from Zayn Malik, insisting the song wasn't written about "anyone in particular."

But as they picked up their award, they seemed to confirm what everyone had thought all along, that the words were indeed inspired by their respective ex partners.

Taking to the stage, an elated Jade Thirlwall gushed: "Thank you so much. We honestly didn't think we were gonna get it, we were just sat there chinwagging.

"We'd like to thank our label Sony, Syco, Simon (Cowell), our amazing A&R, our management, and us girls, because if it wasn't for our friendship, we wouldn't still be going," she said.

And acknowledging the men who inspired the track she added cheekily: "And lastly cheers to our exes for helping us to do an amazing song, this one's for you lads."

The foursome —Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Thirlwal— made a striking entrance on the red carpet ahead of their live performance, as they opened the show with a rendition of their winning song.

Dressed in racy metallic costumes they entered the 02 arena carried on thrones - a reminder to their exes of what they lost.

Surrounded by dancers clad in silver lycra, the former X Factor winners showed off their best moves for a show-stopping performance.

It was the first Brit Awards win for the band who have lost out on the coveted trophy despite being nominated consecutively for the last three years.

British stars triumphed on the night with David Bowie post-humously winning the award for Best British Album for Black star, Adele bagging Best Global Icon and Emeli Sande winning the Best British Female award.

The event also featured an emotional tribute to the late George Michael by his former Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley, including a performance by Chris Martin.