The former 'Mis-Teeq' singer said she has confronted prejudice throughout her career and was once told by an interviewer that black stars could not represent a publication as it would put buyers off, reported Cosmopolitan.
"I did an interview with (another) magazine once and the journalist quite openly said they wouldn't put a black person on the front cover because the magazine wouldn't sell. It made me angry because it shouldn't be about the colour of a person's skin, it should be about the person," she said.
"There still aren't many (black women) on prime time TV. Britain's an amazing multicultural place and that should be celebrated and represented.
"When I joined in 2009, the controller of the BBC came into my dressing room and said they were proud to have a woman of colour on their panel. It was so nice they acknowledged it," she said.