A Loose Women star has talked about an incident in which she entered an unnamed shop to buy a card and, soon after she entered, found she was being followed by security
A Loose Women panellist has said she was left “feeling pretty s***” about herself after she was followed around a shop by a security guard.
Charlene White, 45, who has also appeared as an anchor on ITV news, has said she was followed around a shop as she was doing errands on her high street.
Writing about her experience in the i newspaper, she said that as she was going about what she needed to do she walked into a “well-known stationary shop” to buy a birthday card for a friend of her son’s.
However, Charlene soon found not long after she entered, that she was “being watched” and that a figure was following her.
She added: “This isn’t a story about stalking, though, this is one about racial profiling. The individual in question was a security guard. I looked around and realised that I was the only black person shopping.”
However, Charlene added that this wasn’t the first time something similar had happened and that it had been the third time in a week she’d had the experience, but it was the first time the situation had “gotten” to her.
She said the experience left her “feeling pretty s***” about herself and that, despite how much progress society had made, that it was still happening.
However, she concluded that this wasn’t what “irked” her the most about the experience. What had irked her the most was that she had been feeling herself that morning, she had been having a good day, before she was “forced” to feel like she was “worth less than the life” she’d worked hard to achieve for herself.
Charlene’s comments come as the star endures a difficult year as she recently talked about her struggles with her mental health following the death of her father.
Despite her grief, the mother of two had managed to fight on, but after a period of time, realised she had to ask for support from her colleagues.
Speaking about the matter, she said: “What I underestimated is how difficult it is to go on air when you’re holding it together in front of hundreds of thousands of people.”
Charlene, who became the first black woman to present ITV’s News At Ten in 2014, said she was lucky to work for such a supportive company.
She explained: “I work for an amazing company that has given me time when I’ve needed it. When I’ve said, ‘This week isn’t a good week’, they’ve supported me.
“We are strong when we need to be, but we also have to recognise when we’re not. There have been times when I’ve had to step back because I couldn’t be strong that week. That’s important knowing the difference between being strong and faking it.”
For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.
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