Hello and welcome to Happy Place. I'm Fern Cotton and today I'm chatting to Leanne Pinock.

Saying the words, I am being treated differently because of the colour of my skin.

Saying those words, even to the girls, I was like, this sounds ludicrous.

For all those years, it just, it just sounded wild to me.

I didn't know how to say it.

But then yeah, obviously the world almost woke up in a way

and these conversations aren't awkward anymore,

you know, like we can have these conversations.

Leanne's life changed overnight when she became part of the first ever girl band to win the X factor.

Little Mix went on to become one of the biggest girl bands of all time. They were a multi-platinum selling

supergroup. But the ascent to global fame wasn't always comfortable for Leanne. Despite literally

living her childhood dream of becoming a pop star,

she was faced with the reality of being a black woman in an industry and team with little diversity.

I've interviewed Lian under other guises before on Radio 1 they came into the live

lounge on top of the pops no doubt I mean so many times I can't even remember but

having this chat with her felt like a very special opportunity to really get to know her personally because as she details in her new memoir,

she struggled with her identity in the band and ultimately felt really quite lost.

Now though she feels like she's found her power and feels very ready to speak out.

Right here it is, this is the show. Oh, Hey, Anne?

Hi, we were just trying to work out when it was we last saw each other, I don't know.

It was a long time ago ago but nice to see you again

it's so nice to see you I know but you know what it's so I'm so glad I'm getting to

...