'You wouldn't be pretty if you were dark' - Pearl Thusi recalls being taunted as a child

Actress Pearl Thusi has horrible memories of being teased over the colour of her skin as a child.

Taking a trip down memory lane Pearl reflected on how she was made aware that the colour of her skin was "different".

"Colour has always been such a big part of my life. As a child, being teased by other kids. That's how I became aware of the colour of my skin. That it was different," she said.

Pearl remembered how other kids told her she was only pretty because she was light-skinned.

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"You only seem pretty because you're light. You wouldn't be pretty if you were dark," she remembered.

The actress explained how she prayed to be darker and even stayed in the sun on purpose to burn her skin.

"I wished and prayed to be darker. To be accepted. But the sun laughed at my peeling skin revealing a fresh layer of it's true form because even she couldn't burn me hard enough," she added.

Pearl said that she didn't want to be different, but thankfully with the help of her parents she learnt to accept who she was.

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"I learnt to love and accept the way I looked and I had to defend and represent the authenticity of my blackness with my actions," she said.

Pearl told fans that even though she wasn't  "dark enough," she celebrated being a black African woman and learnt to embrace who she was.

"I can wear any colour with pride. What's beneath my skin is what truly defines me."