Doncaster Queer Eye star Tan France says he will never move back to 'racist' Britain
Doncaster television star Tan France has said he will never return to live in the UK – because ‘there’s too much racism’.
The Queer Eye star says he's 'never' experienced discrimination in the US where he now lives but was regularly subjected to racist and homophobic abuse while growing up in Doncaster.
Tan, 36, who was born in the UK to Pakistani parents, moved to America in 2015.
In previous interviews, Tan – who is one of of the few openly gay Muslim men on television – said that he'd 'maybe' return home one day, but now he describes the prospect as a 'solid no'.
In an interview with Grazia magazine, the fashion designer, who currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his husband Rob France, claimed that he is 'not willing' to live in a country where ethnic minorities are 'attacked every day'.
“I suffered so much racism here and it's just not something I want to put myself through,” he said.
“I love this country, I love what it potentially represents. But I just think that until they solve this problem or move forward with it, where you just are not attacked every day, I’m not willing to be here.”
Previously, Tan has said he's happier in the States than in the UK because he doesn't get 'called the same names as I did at home in the north of England'.
“I would often get called a "P**i", and that's sickening in this day and age,” he told British Vogue.
He said: "I was bullied every day for being a Pakistani and it was a fight for survival every day to make sure people didn't beat the bejesus out of me."
He even revealed how he bleached his skin to appear more white to avoid racist bullying and that he was attacked in the street by gangs of teenagers, while still a small child.
Tan, whose real name is Tanweer Wasim France, studied fashion at Doncaster College and then moved to Manchester before ultimately settling in London where he established himself in the fashion industry.