Sir Lenny Henry says women rejected him because of his skin colour.
The comedian revealed he faced racism when growing up in the West Midlands and said that young women refused to dance with him because he was black.
Speaking on Louis Theroux’s ‘Grounded’ podcast, Lenny, 61 – who was previously married to Dawn French and has been dating theatre producer Lisa Makin since 2012 – said: "If you wanted to meet members of the opposite sex you’ve got to go to a place where they might be and where they might be was St Thomas’ disco next to the church.
"You would spend nearly all evening ignoring them and then in the last five minutes, there would be this rush to the dance floor to try and slow dance with a girl.’
"I would ask anyone to dance, I didn’t want to be left out and my friends would be dancing. Some girls wouldn’t dance with me because I was a black guy."
When asked how he knew, Lenny explained: "They would say."
Lenny also revealed that he kept his comedic skills a secret from his family for a long time and his mum "was the funny one" in the house.
He explained: "There was no wise-cracking from a child in our house because that was seen as being cheeky and overstepping the mark.
"So, if you cracked wise jokes in earshot of your parents, you would get a slap round the head or something… in our house, my mum was the funny one, end of story… it was like a little secret I held in my heart for quite a long time."
Sir Lenny Henry: ‘Some girls wouldn’t dance with me because I was black’
