Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock reveals she cried nightly on tour ahead of racism documentary

‘Why do I feel like no one likes me? I might as well not be on the stage,’ said the singer

Annabel Nugent
Thursday 13 May 2021 13:50 BST
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Leigh-Anne Pinnock from Little Mix opens up about personal experiences with racism

Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock has said that she would cry “most nights” after performing on the band’s latest tour.

The singer is promoting her forthcoming documentary titled Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power, in which she confronts her experience as the only non-white member of the band.

Speaking to the BBC ahead of the documentary’s broadcast tonight (13 May), Pinnock said: “The last tour, I remember coming off stage and crying most nights.

“I’d just be like, ‘Why do I feel like this? Why do I feel like no one likes me? I might as well not be on the stage.’”

Little Mix’s last tour – titled LM5: The Tour – was in 2019. The band had planned to perform their Summer 2020 Tour last year, however it was later cancelled due to the pandemic.

In a recently released preview for the one-off special, the 29-year-old said: “Being a Black girl in the pop industry, I feel like I have a responsibility to speak up.”

The documentary also sees Pinnock speak to fellow Black British pop stars, including Keisha Buchanan from Sugababes.

Former X Factor star Alexandra Burke is also seen in the preview telling Pinnock that she was told to “bleach her skin” in order to sell more records.

(Getty Images)

Singers Raye and NAO are also set to appear.

“It was the most overwhelming moment of the documentary,” Pinnock said. “To be able to be in a room with these incredible ladies that have all experienced such devastating things to do with race.

“It was inspiring hearing them open up and it inspired me to open up more and it erased the feeling of not being alone. It was interesting as well because we all had such different experiences.”

Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop and Power will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 9.00pm tonight (13 May).

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