Little Mix's Perrie Edwards: I have no sense of smell

Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards has said she has had no sense of smell since birth.

As the star celebrates her 20th birthday, she said she had never been able to smell a roast, fried bacon or her own perfume.

"I have never smelt anything, but I think I smelt coffee once," she told Newsbeat.

The star is set to join the rest of Little Mix at the Wireless festival in London this weekend.

"When people go, ah she's cooking a Sunday roast, I'm like, how do you know that. I'm like, this is amazing, it's like magic. I think I smelt coffee once."

It's thought Perrie Edwards, who's the girlfriend of One Direction singer Zayn Malik, has a rare medical condition called congenital anosmia which doesn't have a cure.

"People are always like, 'Oh, isn't that really horrible?' and I'm like, 'No', because I've never known what it's like to smell. If I'd had it and then it disappeared I'd be like, 'Argh'.

"I wear the same perfume all the time, because everyone says, 'Oh you smell nice' and then I'm like, 'Ah, OK'."

Congenital anosmia is usually caused by a nasal condition or brain injury.

It's estimated 6,000 people in the UK are born without a sense of smell. The condition can be very depressing and isolating.

Smell also plays an important role in how you taste things.

Many people with anosmia lose interest in food, because most of the flavour comes from smell.

According to the NHS choices website, if you suddenly lose your sense of smell and don't know why, see your GP for a diagnosis of the underlying cause. They may be able to treat this and restore your sense of smell.

Little Mix won the X Factor in 2011 and performed at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Londonderry this year.

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