Entertainment
Leigh-Anne Pinnock praised for confronting fiance Andre Gray over colourist tweets: ‘Our child could be darker than us’
Leigh-Anne Pinnock has been applauded for confronting her fiance Andre Gray about his colourist tweets.
The Little Mix singer’s documentary Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power aired on BBC One tonight and featured an uncomfortable conversation between the musician and her fiance.
In 2012, Watford footballer Andre posted offensive tweets against dark-skinned women, including one which said that Black women wearing red lipstick look like ‘burnt toast with jam on it’.
During the documentary, Leigh-Anne sat down with Andre to discuss the impact the tweets would have had on dark-skinned Black women.
‘I will never know what it feels like to be a dark-skinned woman but seeing those tweets really made me feel a bit sick,’ she admitted.
She told the footballer: ‘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”.’
In a scene filmed before Leigh-Anne announced she was pregnant with their first child, she then told Andre: ‘We could have a child and it could come out darker than us.’
Viewers were proud of the Sweet Melody singer for publicly holding her partner to account, with one praising: ‘It’s good that Leigh-Anne showed Andre’s past tweets. Funny thing is there’s loads of mixed race men/light skin black men who still think like he supposedly used to!’
‘Good for Leigh Anne to press her boyfriend about his colourist comments,’ another agreed.
One viewer said: ‘I’m glad Leigh-Anne is talking about her fiancé’s disgusting, colourist tweets.’
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Another weighed in: ‘leigh anne calling out and educating andre.. that’s so strong of her. to show it in the documentary.. no words. just so proud.’
‘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,’ one fan wrote.
As a result of the tweets, Andre was charged by the Football Association in 2016 and fined £25,000 while also being banned from four matches with Burnley, his team at the time. He also issued an apology.
In the documentary, he admitted that he was young and uneducated about racism, explaining: ‘You become a product of your environment.
‘Whatever you were around every day and you’re not educated on it or exposed to why it’s wrong, it kind of sticks. There’s no excuse at all. When it all came out, obviously I was embarrassed, ashamed and disappointed.
‘I’ve made that mistake and I’ve learnt and I’ve educated myself and grew up to understand how offensive and wrong it was.’
Together with Leigh-Anne’s sister Sairah, the couple have founded The Black Fund, an organisation which aims to distribute donations to Black-led charities to help young creatives.
Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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