Little Mix's Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power airs on the BBC on Thursday

May 10, 2021

Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock has embarked on a very personal journey for her new BBC documentary, Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop and Power.

During the one-hour film, Pinnock will open up about her own experience as a mixed race woman in the music industry, where she often felt like she was being treated differently to her bandmates, Perrie Edwards, Jade Thirwall and Jesy Nelson – who has now left the group – due to the colour of her skin.

She’ll also speak to other Black or mixed women in the industry, including former Sugababes member Keisha Buchanan, Alexandra Burke and British singer-songwriter Raye. The documentary also features her bandmate Jade Thirlwall.

While the documentary delves deep into issues surrounding racism, Leigh-Anne says there’s still more to be done, and she won’t “stop” until she sees significant change.

Speaking to press including RadioTimes.com, she explained: “I feel like we’re on our way and there are initiatives that Sony have started, so I hope to see a change, because it’s not fair and it’s not the way it should be, and I’m not going to sit down and not say anything like I did for so many years – that was my normal, and it’s not normal. Something has to change with it so I’m going to keep going until I see that change.”

While Leigh-Anne feels that improvements are definitely being made when it comes to racial equality, she wants to encourage what she defines as “active change.”

She added: ” I want to see more diversity. And I want to actually see people actively making a change and not just talking about it.”

Leigh-Anne rose to fame in 2011 when she became one quarter of Little Mix on The X Factor, which the group went on to win.

Since then, the girls have gone onto become one of the most successful girl groups, touring internationally and releasing several UK number one singles.

Speaking of how the other girls reacted to her upcoming documentary, the singer – who is expecting her first child with her fiancé, footballer Andre Gray – said: “They have been super supportive. I’ve been really lucky to have them especially Jade. I think throughout my journey, having someone to talk to and actually understand how I’ve I’ve been feeling is so important. I don’t really know what I would have done without the girls to be honest.”

She added: “I remember our trip to Brazil. For the first time in my career, I saw a Black audience. I loved that I was getting that and I felt like I belonged and it was just mind blowing to me. I’ve never ever experienced anything like that in my Little Mix journey, so I remember coming off stage and just sitting down with Jade and I was hysterical and like, ‘Why, why only now am I feeling this love after 10 years?’. It’s just crazy.”

Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power will stream via BBC Three from 6am on Thursday, 13th May and will also air on BBC One at 10pm on the same day.