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Writer's pictureKia Fullerton

Lenny Henry: Some girls wouldn’t dance with me because I was a black guy

Sir Lenny Henry mentioned that, as a young man, some girls would not dance with him because he was "a black guy".

The comedian, 61, recalled attending discos while growing up in the West Midlands, where he would try to slow dance with girls.


He told the Grounded With Louis Theroux podcast: "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."


Sir Lenny Henry added: “I would ask anyone to dance, I didn’t want to be left out and my friends would be dancing with girls.


"Some girls wouldn’t dance with me because I was a black guy."


Louis Theroux asked him how he knew, to which he replied: "They would say."


Winner of BAFTA's Television Special Award in 2016, the comedian also told Theroux he had to keep his comedic impressions hidden from his family.


Sir Lenny said making "wise jokes" as a child lead to "a slap round the head."


He added, "There was no wise-cracking from a child in our house because that was seen as being cheeky and overstepping the mark.


Grounded With Louis Theroux is available on BBC Sounds every Monday and also broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesdays at 8pm.


Source: Independent.ie

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