Leigh-Anne Pinnock says it's 'time for change' as she exposes how she's come up against racism in the music industry in a documentary for the BBC
The Little Mix singer, who revealed she was pregnant last week, will be on screen on BBC1 on Thursday night at 9pm in Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop and Power, in which she speaks to fellow musicians about racism in the music industry.
Speaking to the BBC ahead of it airing in the same week Little Mix made Brits history, Leigh-Anne said: "We all know that racism is a massive horrible issue in this country and I really wanted to delve deeper into it.
"It was important for someone like me to do something like this as well (because) I do have such a predominantly massive white fanbase and the people that I feel like I could reach by doing this documentary is massive.
"Why wouldn't I put myself out there and do that?"
With hours to go until the show airs, Leigh-Anne posted on Instagram to write: "It's been a tough year of filming but I'm so happy I used my voice, used my platform and spoke out because it's time we see some change.
"Thank you to the incredible kings and queens who took the time to be a part of this."
Leigh-Anne's Little Mix bandmates reacted to her posts about the documentary, with Perrie Edwards commenting: "Beyond proud of you my Lee Lee!," and Jade Thirlwall writing: "Proud"
The documentary also sees Jade and Leigh-Anne say they were 'made to look white' in early photo shoots.
Among the other stars who appear in the documentary are former Sugababe Keisha Buchanan and X Factor winner turned theatre leading lady Alexandra Burke who tells Leigh-Anne she was told to "bleach her skin."
Little Mix earned a historic Brit Award win on Tuesday night when they became the first female act to ever win British Group and, during their acceptance speech, which saw them pay tribute to Spice Girls, All Saints, Sugababes and Girls Aloud, Leigh-Anne addressed some of the obstacles they've come up against in the 10 years since they won X Factor.
She said: "It's not easy being a female in the UK pop industry. We've seen the white male dominance, misogyny, sexism and lack of diversity.
"We're proud of how we've stuck together, stood our ground, surrounded ourselves with strong women and are now using our voices more than ever."
