Raven-Symoné: 'I used to tan 3-4 times a week to get darker' for 'That's So Raven'

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Raven-Symoné is telling her story on the upcoming OWN documentary Light Girls and reveals some shocking details about her former TV role, starring on Disney’s That’s So Raven.

Light Girls is the sequel to Bill Duke’s 2011 documentary, Dark Girls. It premieres January 19th and will address the privileges and disadvantages of having lighter skin.

Raven says that throughout the four seasons in which she starred on That’s So Raven, she used to tan to get darker skin.

“When I had my own show, I used to tan three or four times a week in a tanning bed to get darker,” she said. “I did.”

Raven’s skin changed so much that it affected the production of her show.

“It’s funny, one of the lighting guys came up — I love him to death; I love him, oh my goodness — he goes, ‘Raven, I need you to stop tanning. You’re getting too dark, and we have to re-light the whole entire show,'” Raven recalls. “I was like, ‘Sorry. I was just trying to be pretty.'”

Light Girls also features interviews with Soledad O’Brien, Iyanla Vanzant, Diahann Carroll, Tatyana Ali, Amber Rose, India Arie, KeKe Wyatt and more.

Dark Girls premiered on OWN in 2011 and tackled the prejudices facing black people of darker skin. The film sparked a national conversation about black beauty, just as it did during limited screenings in theaters.

Follow theGrio.com’s Entertainment Editor Chris Witherspoon on Twitter @WitherspoonC.