Overview
- Henry's interview, which aired Friday at 10.05pm on ITV1 and ITVX, featured direct questions from a panel of autistic, neurodivergent and learning-disabled interviewers.
- He revisited his 1975 appearance on The Black and White Minstrel Show and said it felt racist and left him feeling low for a long time.
- He described watching white performers in blackface and said his family refused to attend his shows, which deepened his distress.
- Pressed about his relationship, he said partner Lisa Makin encouraged him to do the programme, and he joked when asked why they have not married.
- The Black and White Minstrel Show ran from 1958 to 1978 and used blackface, which helps explain why his teenage role as the show's first black performer remains a painful subject.