Fleur East has revealed her skin was dubbed ‘disgusting, dirty and ugly’ by racist bullies when she was just eight years old.
The Sax hitmaker, 32, recalled how she was approached by three white girls when she was a kid, and told she was disgusting just because of the colour of her skin.
In an emotional Instagram video, posted on Sunday, she said: ‘It was like they had punched me in the stomach. I didn’t know what to say
Heartbreaking: Fleur East has detailed her past experiences with racism in both her childhood and adult life and described how she has been called ‘disgusting, ugly and dirty’
‘My mum was a devout Christian and had always taught me that this is the way God made me. I said that to the girls, I said, “But I love my skin.”
‘But they said, “Your skin is ugly, why is it brown?” I walked away and cried, I was just like I don’t understand, why am I being attacked, what? What’s wrong with my skin? Is it dirty and ugly? That was my earliest experience.’
And the star admitted the last week of protests following the death of George Floyd has left her feeling ’emotionally and mentally drained’.
Reflecting: The former X Factor star spoke candidly to her followers on an Instagram Live video on Sunday night
She said: ‘I would love to think that people judge me purely on the person I am. My ultimate wish is that people don’t see colour…
‘Do you think people enjoy talking about this? No one does. No one enjoys talking about sharing experiences where we were attacked because of the colour if our skin.
‘At the end of every day this past week I have felt emotionally and mentally drained – but its bigger than me And I will talk about it. I’m not here to beef anyone or have an argument, I’m just here to have a conversation.’
Protest: The star revealed she has been left ’emotionally drained’ over the past week following the tragic death of George Floyd and subsequent protests happening around the globe
Sad: Fleur described her first experience with racism aged eight. She explained how she was sat on a bench when three white girls approached her and said: ‘your skin is disgusting, dirty, ugly’
Fleur, who came second on The X Factor in 2014, has said these types of experiences have trickled into her adult life.
The star explained how on a trip to Paris with her husband, she was ignored by taxi drivers for two hours who refused to pick her up.
She explained: ‘I knocked on the windows, and the drivers all said they were on a break. All of them, always on a break. Then two minutes later a white person came along, got in a cab, even though the drivers said they were on a break. The drivers picked them up, no problem.’
The singer said she is ‘very proud’ of her Ghanian heritage passed down from her mum.
The singer tragically lost her father earlier this year and revealed that it was him who taught her about slavery and racism, despite being white.
Proud: The Sax singer said she is ‘very proud’ of her Ghanian heritage passed down from her mother
Touching: The singer tragically lost her father earlier this year and revealed that it was he who taught her about slavery and racism, despite being white
Fleur explained: ‘We sat down and we got out an encyclopedia and learnt about racism and slavery and everything.
‘Yes we have come a long way, but unfortunately it has trickled through the years and we still see it. Nowadays its sly racism.’
The star went on: ‘That joke “is it coz I’m black?” stems from something, it stems from real life.
‘It stems from people wondering why they’re being treated in a certain situation, wondering “is it because of the colour of my skin?” It’s sad.’
She candidly shared: ‘I would love to think that people judge me purely on the person I am. My ultimate wish is that people don’t see colour.
‘It’s amazing now that the floor is open. It’s not that everyone is jumping on the bandwagon – it’s more that the door is open.’
She candidly shared: ‘I would love to think that people judge me purely on the person I am. My ultimate wish is that people don’t see colour’