Mel B has opened up about dealing with racism in an exclusive interview with Daily Star Online.
The Spice Girls songstress spoke to us about having to deal with racism growing up in Leeds and also her experiences while in the Spice Girls.
In the powerful interview, Mel, 45, also recalled the moment she was asked to leave a designer clothes store ahead of a gig for Nelson Mandela and Prince Charles.
She told us: “There were times when there was obvious racism, I was asked to leave a designer clothes shop in Sun City when I was with all the other girls and we were there performing for Prince Charles and Nelson Mandela.
Mel B has opened up about dealing with racism in an exclusive interview with Daily Star Online (Image: ITV)
“Of course, all the girls had a go at the assistant because they were so shocked.
“It’s pretty awful to think I wasn’t actually shocked because if you are brown then there’s always a part of you that expects some confrontation.”
The I Want You Back singer added that she was “strong enough, old enough and brave enough” to call out industry bosses if they made comments on her race.
The singer said she was asked to leave a designer clothes store ahead of a gig for Nelson Mandela and Prince Charles (Image: Press Association)
For example, she said that she hit back at a stylist who asked her to straighten her curly locks for the Spice Girls’ breakout hit Wannabe.
Mel said: “I remember when we first did the video for Wannabe we had a big styling team and one of the first things they said to me was: ‘Ok, so we need to straighten your hair’.
“I refused point-blank because my hair was my identity and yes it was different to all the other girls but that was what the Spice Girls were about – celebrating our differences.”
Mel also talked about the racism she had to deal with growing up (Image: Press Association)
She added: “And then I’d get really emotional letters from girls, and their mums, saying how incredible it was that they had someone to ‘be’ when they did dances in the playground at school and they were actually daring to wear their hair out and proud rather than scraped back or straightened.
“That was a big deal to me.”
Mel grew up with her younger sister Danielle, mum Andrea and dad Martin.
She said she was aware from a young age that she rarely saw people of the same colour.
Her dad Martin hailed from exotic Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean, while her mum Andrea is British.
Mel said a stylist told her to straighten hair hair for the Wannabe video (Image: Getty Images)
Talking about growing up, Mel said: “My mum made friends with a lady who also had a mixed-race baby called Sherelle, who is still my good friend to this day, and we used to play together.
“The only other little brown girl for miles around.”
“But it was really when I went to school that I understood the colour of my skin had such an effect on the other kids.
“All of a sudden I was called all these names I didn’t understand like ‘P**i’, ‘Redskin’ and obviously the N-word.
“I used to get chased home by kids shouting these names at me, so I learnt to run fast. When I was older I would always win all the races on sports day and that was because I’d learnt to run fast at such a young age.”
Read the full interview here.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
