Leigh-Anne Pinnock has been courageously vocal about her experiences being the only black member in the award-winning band Little Mix and how she often felt “invisible” and “left out” due to the colour of her skin.
But now, the star has hit out at X Factor over their “tokenistic” ideals when they shaved her head for the ITV programme.
Leigh-Anne appeared on the music reality show with band mates Perrie Edwards, Jade Thirlwall and ex-member Jesy Nelson in 2011.
The girls were successful and ended up being the first group to ever win.
Discussing the programme in more detail in an article for Evening Standard, Leigh-Anne revealed that she felt X Factor tried to purposely turn her into a “mini-Rihanna”.
(Image: Mike Marsland/WireImage)
The star penned: “When I first joined Little Mix I didn’t anticipate the racism I would face.
“Looking back, on X Factor when they shaved my head and dyed it red to try to turn me into a mini-Rihanna, I realised it was very tokenistic.
“It was very clear that I was being used to bring that kind of urban ‘coolness’, but a palatable version of it.”
(Image: FilmMagic)
Despite feeling annoyed by the ordeal, the Sweet Melody singer said she never felt an urge to leave the band because she was “living her dream”.
Since releasing her BBC documentary Race, Pop & Power – which addressed racism in the entertainment industry – Leigh-Anne has expressed feeling nervous about the responses she would receive once it was out in the public domain.
(Image: JMEnternational for BRIT Awards/Getty Images)
She said: “Obviously it’s a very sensitive topic — there was this perpetual fear of tripping up and offending people. But then I let that go and realised that I needed to just be honest and if I did say the wrong thing then I’m learning.”
Since the release of her doc, Leigh-Anne has been working on The Black Fund – a charity created by herself, her sister Sarah and her fiancé Andre Gray.
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The aim of the charity is to help the black community get into more creative spaces by channelling finances and support to charities that work in these specific areas.
The charity will also offer grants of up to £5,000 to help support programmes that empower the black community and to help people to stand up against racism.
Leigh-Anne’s documentary is available to stream on BBC iPlayer
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
