Singer Alexandra Burke Speaks Out About How She Was Told To Bleach Her Skin After She Won 'X-Factor'

Alexandra Burke is opening up about the challenges she’s faced in the music industry as a Black person – both before and after she won X-Factor.

During an Instagram Live video, the 31-year-old singer talked about some of the biggest things she’s been told, including how she couldn’t wear her hair in braids or in an afro and more.

“This isn’t a video to bash anyone… this is simply me speaking about what I’ve been through in the past 11 years, and feeling like I’m not ashamed to speak about it,” Alexandra shared.

“The first experience that comes to my mind was when I was 16,” she recalled. “I went to the X-Factor twice, when I was 16 and when I was 19. And when I was 16 years old, I made it down to the judges’ houses and this person said to me, ‘You haven’t made it through, but give me a call in a couple of months and I’ll sign you.’”

“I remember calling this particular person and saying to him, ‘I’m in a position where I’m ready to start working, I’m eager, I’m good to go’ and the response that I got was, ‘I already have one Black artist. I don’t need another,’” Alexandra went on. “I wasn’t sure how to take that, to be honest. I still have to really take that in, even now, many years later. It really, really sucked to hear those words.”

She also recalls being told that because she was Black, “‘you are gonna have to work 10 times harder than a white artist because of the color of your skin.’”

“I got told to bleach my skin, and that was something I refused to do.,” she adds. “Because it’s just so absurd to me that somebody could even remotely say to someone, ‘Bleach your skin, so that you could look whiter. Still, ’til this moment, it breaks my heart that I was told that. I’m trying to hold back the tears, because it’s really heartbreaking, the s*** that went on.”

Alexandra added, “I was only 19 years old, there’s only so much you can understand when your life [has] completely changed overnight. That was quite hard to digest.”

This other celebrity just recently called out skin lightening advertisements.

Watch Alexandra‘s full IG Live below: