Fleur East has found it "very difficult" grieving her father in lockdown.
The ‘Sax’ hitmaker’s dad Malcolm passed away just days before the UK went into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic and Fleur admits she hasn’t been able to deal with his passing "in the real world yet".
She said: "It was just at the start of lockdown, this whole global pandemic has been so surreal for so many different reasons, it almost doesn’t feel like it happened. I haven’t been able to deal with it in the real world yet. It’s been very, very difficult."
And the 32-year-old singer says both of her parents taught her to "celebrate" her race.
She added: "I remember being raised by my parents, my father was white my mother was black, and I learned about the slave trade and British empire from my father, both of my parents taught me to celebrate my race. It’s a shame those conversations and lessons aren’t taught."
Fleur is glad to see so many people taking part in the Black Lives Matter movement and raising awareness of racism.
Speaking to Lorraine Kelly on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, she shared: "It’s interesting, I think there’s a sense of people jumping ‘on a bandwagon’ and that it’s become a ‘trend’ to speak out about this. But for me, and a lot of people in the black community, this isn’t a new conversation, these conversations have been happening behind closed doors for years and it’s just now we’re at a time when the door is open and we’re feeling more confident and more empowered to speak out."