A LITTLE Mix star from the North-East has revealed that she faced 'horrific' racist bullying while growing up in school.

Jade Thirlwall of South Shields said she was 'pinned down' in the toilets as bullies placed a bindi spot on her forehead, as she recalled her ordeal.

Ms Thirwall, who first rose to stardom after appearing on The X Factor as a member of Little Mix, said she had been made to feel "ashamed" of her background.

The 27-year-old's maternal grandfather is from Yemen, while her maternal grandmother is from Egypt.

Ms Thirwall said she had refused to talk about her mixed-race heritage after joining the pop group because she “subconsciously” feared “not being as popular”.

Revealing the true extent of her bullying, she said: “I think because 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.

“I think when I then entered the group 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 but I was only 18 years old and through years of being ashamed of who I was I found it quite hard to talk about it.

“I think it was through a lack of education as well. Even now I am constantly learning what the right things are to say and I would hate to talk about my race and my heritage and not say the right things.”

Ms Thirlwall went into the racial abuse she suffered from other pupils at school, describing that her ordeal had been fuelled by a 'lack of education'.

She said: “I think it is a lack of education.

“Where I am from, if you weren’t evidently black you were literally put in a bracket of being called the p-word.

“When I was at school if I was ever bullied for the colour of my skin I’d get so confused as I’d be like, well I’m not from Pakistan.

“I remember one time I got pinned down in the toilets and they put a bindi spot on my forehead, it was horrific.”

She later attended a Catholic secondary school but struggled to fit in, she said.

“When I went to secondary school I was literally one of three people of colour in the school. It was a very predominately white Catholic school.

“I went through a lot in the first two years of secondary school. It was known as a really good school and my mam wanted me to have a really good education.

“In hindsight I probably would have just rather gone to school were I would fit in more.”

Describing how it had affected her right through to adulthood, Ms Thirwall said she had faced a 'constant inner battle' of not knowing where she fit in.

She added: “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.

“Some of the things I think about that I can laugh about now are just so crazy. I used to be in an amateur operatic society, they would literally put white powder on my face to whiten me on stage."

Recalling how she didn't realise the seriousness of her situation at the time, she added: “Even now me and my mum will talk about it and we’ll be like, ‘That was f****** mental’ - we never really understood what was going on at the time.”

Little Mix – Jesy Nelson, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards and Thirlwall – were among the numerous artists forced to cancel summer tour dates due to the coronavirus pandemic.