Leigh-Anne Pinnock praised for discussing fiancé Andre Grey’s colourist tweets in racism documentary

‘We could have a child and it could come out darker than us,’ Little Mix star told the footballer

Leigh-Anne Pinnock has been praised for having “important” conversations with fiancé Andre Gray about his past colourist tweets in her new BBC documentary.

In Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop and Power, the Little Mix star discussed her own experiences of racism while performing with the girl band, as well as the experiences of other Black British female pop stars.

The show also looks into colourism, in which darker-skinned people are seen to face more discrimination than those who are light skinned.

During one scene in the documentary, Pinnock sat down with her footballer boyfriend Gray to discuss resurfaced tweets of his from 2012 in which he compared dark-skinned women wearing red lipstick to “burnt toast with jam on it”.

Pinnock said that she’d felt “sick” reading the tweets, telling Gray: “I was really upset because I was just like, who is this person? This is horrible. That wasn’t the person I knew.

“When they surfaced my heart sank, because I was like, that is not the person I met. It sounds like a child, like a silly child.”

The Watford striker said that he was “ashamed” and “disappointed” when the tweets resurfaced, adding that he’d “educated” himself in the wake of their release.

Pinnock and Gray were shown discussing the tweets (BBC)

While the documentary was filmed before her recent pregnancy announcement, Pinnock told Gray: “How would you feel if someone said that about your cousin, your auntie? We could have a child and it could come out darker than us, you just don’t know, do you?”

Viewers at home praised Pinnock for confronting someone so “close” to her about his past colourist comments.

“Honestly big up Leigh confronting Andre about his tweets,” one Twitter user wrote.

Another commenter said: “I’m so glad Leigh Anne pulled up Andre’s past tweets it’s so important to address all issues no matter how close people are to you.”

“It makes me so happy that instead of ignoring Andre‘s past tweets. Leigh Anne called him out for his past colourism and they discussed together how wrong it was,” one tweet read. “It’s so important to have these discussions with friends or family that have made racist comments!”

“Respect to leigh-anne for bringing up andre’s tweets and making him explain himself!!” one commenter wrote.

At the end of the documentary, it was revealed that Pinnock, her sister and Gray had set up The Black Fund foundation to help get young Black people into the creative industries.

Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop and Power is available on BBC iPlayer.