As she prepares to take centre stage at the Proms this Saturday (November 8), a powerful past interview with Jade Thirlwall has resurfaced, offering a raw and emotional insight into the racism and identity struggles the Little Mix star faced growing up.
The South Shields-born singer spoke on the No Country for Young Women podcast back in 2020.
Jade reflected on the “inner battle” she endured as a mixed-race child of Arab descent in a predominantly white school.
Jade Thirlwall opens up about ‘horrific’ attack
“I was bullied quite badly in school because of the colour of my skin and for being Arab. I wasn’t very proud of who I was,” Jade told hosts Sadia Azmat and Monty Onanuga.
She admitted that when she first joined Little Mix at age 18, she suppressed her heritage out of fear it would affect how people perceived her.
“I subconsciously didn’t want to talk about my heritage or what my background was in fear of not being as popular, which sounds awful to say.”
Now proudly vocal about her Yemeni and Egyptian roots, Jade also acknowledged that her relationship with identity has been shaped by years of racism, confusion and silence, something she’s actively working to unlearn and heal.
“Where I’m from, if you weren’t evidently black you were literally put in a bracket of being called the P-word,” she said. “I remember one time I got pinned down in the toilets and they put a bindi spot on my forehead. It was horrific.”
‘I have constantly had this inner battle’
Jade also recounted the alienation she felt as one of only three students of colour at her secondary school. The singer revealed that she attended a “very predominantly white Catholic school”.
“In hindsight, I probably would’ve rather gone to a school where I would fit in more,” she reflected. “I went through a lot in those first two years.”
That disconnect also continued beyond school walls, and even extended into performance spaces.
“I used to be in an amateur operatic society. They would literally put white powder on my face to whiten me on stage,” she also recalled. “Even now me and my mum will talk about it. We’re like: ‘That was [bleep]ing mental.’ We never really understood what was going on at the time.”
Jade also described a lifelong sense of being “in between”, struggling to understand where she fit in culturally. “I have constantly had this inner battle of not really having who I am, or where I fit in, or what community I fit into.”
Now, she continues to embrace her roots and use her platform to speak out. Her upcoming BBC Proms appearance marks a proud new chapter in her journey.
JADE at the Proms airs Saturday 8 November at 8pm on BBC Two.
Read more: Inside Jade Thirlwall and boyfriend Jordan Stephens’ romance
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