Leigh-Anne Pinnock

Leigh-Anne Pinnock was born on 4 October 1991, to mixed-race parents Deborah Thornhill and John Pinnock, and was raised in a Caribbean household.[7] Pinnock lived in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.[8][9] with her two older sisters Sian-Louise and Sairah.[10] Pinnock has Barbadian and Jamaican ancestry[11] and counts Jamaica as her second home. She has been spending her holidays there since she was a child, with many of her relatives still living there.[12]

Before joining Little Mix, she worked as a waitress at Pizza Hut.[13] Her early experience of organised singing came when she joined a youth club and choir then run by Jay Blades, who later became a trustee of her charity The Black Fund that she founded in 2021.[14] In 2020, she spoke about the first time she experienced racism at the age of nine, for a documentary that was later aired on Channel 4.[15]

Pinnock's first audition on The X Factor was "Only Girl (In the World)" by Rihanna.[16] After she failed the first bootcamp challenge she was placed in a three-piece group named "Orion" alongside Jade Thirlwall. Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson were in another group called "Faux Pas". Both groups, however, were eliminated. Later, the four were called back by the judges to form into the four-piece group Rhythmix, and they progressed to judges' houses.[17] They eventually reached the live shows and were mentored by Tulisa Contostavlos.[18] On 28 October 2011, it was announced that the band's new name would be Little Mix.[19][20][21] In December 2011, Little Mix were announced as the winners, making them the first group to ever to win the show.[22] As of 2022, Pinnock has released seven albums with the group: DNA (2012), Salute (2013), Get Weird (2015), Glory Days (2016), LM5 (2018) Confetti (2020), and Between Us (2021).

Pinnock in 2012

Outside of the group Pinnock has ventured into her own solo projects. In February 2015, she launched a Tumblr fashion blog called "Leigh Loves".[23] In 2016, Pinnock was attacked at a London restaurant by a male diner.[24] In December 2017 while performing alongside Little Mix as an opening act for Ariana Grande, Dangerous Woman Tour, she suffered a burn backstage at one of their gigs.[25] In April 2019, she signed to Sony/ATV via joint venture TwentySeven as a published songwriter.[26] Later that month, Pinnock released her own swimwear range with Gabrielle Urquhart, titled In'A'Seashell.[27][28][29]

In March 2019, Pinnock was named as the new face of the sports brand Umbro.[30][31] In April 2020, she revealed she would be launching a documentary with BBC, detailing experiences of racism and colourism in the United Kingdom.[32] In October 2020, the singer launched her own production house named Pinnock Productions, to help embrace diversity and cultures that are underrepresented in the media.[33] In 2020, she released a style edit collection with ASOS, a British online fashion retailer.[34][35] Later that month, it was announced that she would be making her acting debut in the upcoming Christmas film Boxing Day.[36] Pinnock Productions contributed to the production of the film, which she also stars in.

On December 2020, Pinnock won the Equality Award at the Ethnicity Awards, along with group member Jade Thirlwall; in recognition for their work towards racial equality in the UK.[37] In March 2021, it was announced she had signed to Taps Music to focus on her solo career; she stated her intent to pursue solo projects alongside her Little Mix commitments.[38][39] In May 2021, her released documentary Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power was released on BBC iPlayer and BBC One talking about racial issues and colourism in the music industry and her personal experiences.[40] The documentary has been nominated for a National Television Award for Best Authored Documentary.[41] In June 2021, Pinnock was announced as the new ambassador for Maybelline New York, an American cosmetic brand, and launched the "Brave Together" initiative in October.[42][43]

In September 2021, journalist Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff and Timi Sotire release the book "Black Joy" which includes a personal essay by Leigh-Anne, titled "The Power Within: Finding Purpose in Raising My Voice".[44][45] In November 2021, it was announced that Pinnock would be one of the hosts for the 2021 MOBO Awards.[46] In December 2021, she made her acting debut in the film Boxing Day for which she also recorded original music for the first time.[47]

In February 2022, Pinnock signed a solo record deal with Warner Records.[48]

In 2012 during the release party for Little Mix's single "Wings", Pinnock met footballer Jordan Kiffin, and the pair was in a on-off relationship, from 2013 to 2016.[49] In 2016 she started dating professional footballer Andre Gray and the couple moved in together in December 2018. In 2020, the pair got engaged on their four-year anniversary.[50] In May 2021, Pinnock announced that she was pregnant, and on 16 August 2021 gave birth to twins.[51][52]

Pinnock has been open about her struggles with racism. In an interview with Glamour magazine in March 2019, she spoke about her experiences with racism and comments she received on social media, while feeling "invisible" for the first three years as the only black girl in Little Mix.[53] In the same year she and band member Jade Thirlwall, with other British celebrities, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day.[54]

In the rise of Black Lives Matter, during the summer of 2020, Pinnock spoke about racism in Britain and shared her own experiences in the music industry. In 2020, she attended the Black Lives Matter protests in London, and spoke out about the police murders of African Americans George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Pinnock has since acknowledged her own privilege as a light-skinned, mixed-race woman.[55] In her documentary: Leigh-Anne: Race, Pop & Power, she cites group member Jade Thirlwall, as someone she could turn to for support, who also shared similar experiences with racism for her mixed ethnicity.[56] In the documentary she and her fiancé Andre Gray also expressed their intent in helping the black community by using their platforms.

On 14 May 2021, Pinnock, in partnership with her fiancé and sister Sairah, launched a charity called The Black Fund. The charity is made to support existing charities and groups who deliver support to the black community, including financial support.[57][58] In the same month she called British Media for mistaken her up with band member Jade Thirlwall, after her pregnancy announcement. Pinnock also pointed out that this wasn't the first time that the Little Mix stars have been mistaken for each other.[59]

There comes a point in every black human's life, no matter how much money you have or what you have achieved, you realise racism does not exclude you. Nine years ago, after joining Little Mix, I had the biggest awakening of my life. When we were filming "Wings", we worked with [choreographer] Frank Gatson. He said to me, 'You're the black girl, you have to work 10 times harder.' Never in my life had someone told me I would need to work harder because of my race. Later on, what Frank Gatson said made sense. I learned that the dream of being in the biggest girl band in the world came with its flaws and consequences. My reality was feeling lonely while touring predominantly white countries. I sang to fans who don't see me or hear me or cheer me on. My reality is feeling anxious before fan events and signings because I always feel like I'm the least favoured. My reality is constantly feeling like I have to work 10 times harder and longer to mark my place in the group, because my talent alone isn't enough. My reality is all the times I felt invisible within my group. Part of me is fully aware that my experience would have been even harder to deal with had I been dark-skinned. Our reality is no matter how far you think you've come, racism exists.

— Pinnock on the racism she has experienced throughout her career.[60]