A BBC newsreader has claimed Asian or black women are more likely to get ahead if they have lighter skin.

Tina Daheley, the daughter of first-generation immigrant parents, revealed her frustration in a post on social media, writing that ‘light-skin privilege is real’.

The child of a mother and father of Indian parentage, who themselves grew up in Nairobi and Tanzania, Miss Daheley, 37, shared an article about the topic of whether ‘light-skinned black celebs have it easier’.

BBC newsreader Tina Daheley, the daughter of first-generation immigrant parents, claimed Asian or black women are more likely to get ahead if they have lighter skin

Alongside a link, she tweeted: ‘As someone of Asian heritage with dark skin, I can tell you that light-skin privilege is REAL’.

The piece, which she described as ‘great’, explored whether black women with lighter skin were more likely to succeed because of ‘colourism’ in the music and film industry.

It comes after Matthew Knowles, singer Beyonce’s father, said the music world was prejudiced against black singers with darker skin. Asked whether Beyonce had been more readily accepted because of her skin tone, he said: ‘It becomes easier. Absolutely.’

Miss Daheley’s fame soared earlier this year when she interviewed Prince William, The Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as a group – rapidly dubbed the ‘fab four’.

Speaking about her rise in the world of TV, she has previously said: ‘I have had zero privilege.’ She has also admitted she is ‘good at connecting with real people’, because ‘I am a real person’.

Addressing the racism she had been subjected to in the past, she told The Daily Telegraph: ‘My earliest memories are of our house being bricked and a brick missing my sister’s head by inches.

‘And my dad getting started on by skinheads from the National Front. We didn’t have the easiest time.’

After reading the news on the Radio 1 breakfast show for several years, Miss Daheley has also covered events such as the pre-election debate and last year fronted her first Panorama programme – about the Manchester bombing.