Charlene White has claimed that being a black woman means she’s had to work twice as hard as her peers in order to succeed in the ruthless TV industry, adding that she regrets ‘toning down’ her natural behaviour in a bid to fit in.
The ITV newsreader, 41, admitted she felt that her race, gender and working class roots caused her to experience discrimination at the hands of her former BBC colleagues.
Following a positive experience within Radio 1Xtra’s vibrant newsroom, she insisted her co-workers at the broadcaster’s regional division soon looked at her ‘like she was strange’ and advised her to ‘tone down’ her accent.
‘People looked at me like I was strange’: Charlene White has said she’s had to work ‘twice as hard’ to succeed as a black woman in TV before claiming she was told to ‘tone down’ her accent in the early days of her career
During an interview with The Sun in celebration of International Women’s Day, she revealed how she worked seven day weeks, triple or quadruple shifts before finding success as the first black woman to present ITV’s News at Ten.
The journalist, whose heritage originates from the West Indies, said her parents Dorrett Lonie and Denis arrived in the UK, a ‘country that didn’t treat them very well’, and soon had to work six jobs.
The fruits of their labour allowed her the privilege of attending the private Blackheath High School, where fees today are £22,852 per year.
Charlene said she would be ‘doing them a disservice’ if she didn’t ‘shout about their accomplishments’, which allowed her to follow her aspirations.
Success story: She revealed how she worked seven day weeks, triple or quadruple shifts before finding success as the first black woman to present ITV’s News at Ten (pictured in 2010)
Admitting she doesn’t consider herself to speak the Queen’s English, the Lewisham native said she realised she ‘didn’t necessarily talk the way other journalists spoke’ and ‘fought really hard to not change that’.
After a six year tenure at the company’s flagship radio station, she said: ‘When I moved into regional TV in Norwich I recorded my voice and a reporter said to me, “You’ll have to redo that because that’s not how we talk at the BBC.”
‘That’s when the shock hit me, because suddenly people were looking at me like I was strange, like I wasn’t intelligent and I couldn’t do my job.
‘But other people made me feel like I was in the wrong for being who I was and I really regret listening and behaving how they wanted me behind you.’
Shocking: The ITV newsreader, 41, admitted she felt that her race, gender and working class roots caused her to experience discrimination at the hands of her former BBC colleagues
MailOnline has contacted the BBC for comment.
Charlene previously revealed that she’s had to endure negative comments about her ‘natural hair’ on social media while hosting ITV News.
The Loose Women panellist, who had stepped in at short notice to read the late evening bulletins for a week, revealed to her 50,000 followers on Twitter that she’d been subjected to disparaging remarks about how her hair looked.
She wrote: ‘Thanks guys for all the lovely comments about my unexpected few days on News At Ten this week! Loved working with the team.
Throwback: After a six year tenure at the company’s flagship radio station (pictured with Jay Z), she said: ‘When I moved into regional TV in Norwich I recorded my voice and a reporter said to me, “You’ll have to redo that because that’s not how we talk at the BBC”‘
‘And to those who’ve expressed utter nonsense about my natural hair, listen very carefully: Other. Channels. Are. Available.’
Earlier this year, she revealed she’d been hit by a petition that tried to get her fired from ITV, which the person who started it called the ‘Sack the S**g campaign’.
Speaking to Love Sunday magazine last May, Charlene said she believes a lot of trolls think she is ‘fair game’ because she is a ‘black woman in the public eye’.
She said: ‘It all came to a head when a member of the EDL [English Defence League] said, “I’ve heard there’s a black girl on ITV that doesn’t wear a poppy” and told his followers to abuse me in any way they could find me.’
Family: The journalist, whose heritage originates from the West Indies, said her parents Dorrett Lonie and Denis arrived in the UK, a ‘country that didn’t treat them very well’, and soon had to work six jobs
Charlene said she received several thousand comments along with the petition to try and get her sacked from ITV, describing the abuse as ‘overwhelming’.
She said: ‘As long as it doesn’t get as bad as that, it’s manageable. But that upset me a lot. It takes a lot to make me cry, but it got to a point where it was really overwhelming and really did make me cry. It’s never been to that particular level since.’
Charlene added she gets online abuse anytime she speaks publicly about race, which she thinks is down to a lack of education.
Wow! Charlene previously revealed that she’s had to endure negative comments about her ‘natural hair’ on social media while hosting ITV News
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