AceShowbiz - British singer Alexandra Burke was once told to bleach her skin in order to find success.

The star broke down during a new interview with Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock for her BBC documentary "Race, Pop and Power", which was released on Thursday (13May21), as she recalled a manager telling her to look whiter when she was a 15-year-old hopeful.

"It's very British though," she said, holding back tears. "We're taught not to talk about it. It's a very taboo subject."

"People are afraid to admit that they have done something that is considered racist. They may not have meant it. Like, I know there's not all bad in people; I really believe that everyone has got good in them... I remember when my mum used to take me to certain management companies... I won't name them now because they're still friends and that's good, and it's all love (sic)."

"But when I was 15, they told me, 'We've got one black person, we can't have another'. And I got that a couple of times... One thing that actually comes to my head right now... is being told to bleach my skin. Being told that I'm 'too dark' to be in the industry. I'm going cold talking about it because I really actually don't like talking about it."

"That's what is so f**ked up about this industry and that is what makes me feel, at times, where I go: 'I don't want to be in this industry (sic)'... They took my confidence away so much that I couldn't be me."