I Used To Intentionally Burn My Skin While I Battled Colorism – Pearl Thusi

South African media personality, Pearl Thusi has come out to speak on her battle with colorism and depression.

She recently revealed this in an interview with podcaster MacG, and Africans have been reacting.

According to Pearl, she remembers burning her skin when she was a child for people to stop teasing her because she didn’t grow up around other light-skinned people, plus she even had to darken her skin to fit in with the people around her.

Pearl added that she worked really hard to be where she is right now and she even slept in parking lots at some point when she was too tired to drive home.

Her words, “I used to burn my skin when I was a child for people to stop teasing (me). I didn’t grow up around other light-skinned people.

“These people think this ‘light-skinned’ thing started with them. I have had this conversation since I was 11. People think this conversation is new. I had believed I had worked so hard that I had passed that conversation about the colour of my skin.”

On her success, “You can’t say all I have is purely because of something I can’t change and expect me to accept that. You can’t! That’s rude! I am going to defend my work. I worked really hard. I have slept in parking lots because I was too tired to drive home.”

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Sithembile Xola Pearl Thusi (born 13 May 1988) is a South African actress, model, television host, and radio personality. Thusi is known for her portrayal of Patricia Kopong in the BBC/HBO comedy-drama series, The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Dayana Mampasi in the ABC thriller Quantico and Samkelo in the romantic drama film Catching Feelings.

One of South Africa’s most influential actresses, she starred in the title role of the critically acclaimed Netflix crime drama series Queen Sono, which was Netflix’s first African original.

Thusi is the host of Lip Sync Battle Africa on MTV and e.tv, as well as the talk show Moments, on EbonyLife TV. She has starred on the SABC 3 popular soap opera, Isidingo, as Palesa Motaung, co-hosted Live Amp with DJ Warras and Luthando Shosha, the SABC 1 celebrity gossip magazine show, Real Goboza.