Peter Andre has opened up on the horrific racism he suffered as a child as he prepares for his big screen debut in Jafaican. In the new movie, Peter plays Gary Buckle, a small time crook who is seeking £35,000 to pay for his gran's care. Desperate, he has to pretend to be Jamaican with only 21 days to master the culture to pull off a huge fraud and secure the cash.

Peter filmed in Jamaica with stars like Oliver Samuels and Sizzla Kalonji - and he's already planning a sequel film. He used local crews and businesses to help boost the local economy while undertaking the project, but still came under fire for his fake Jamaican accent and dreadlocks in the trailer.

The star, however, says he knows what it's like to experience racism. In a chat with The Sun, he explained: "I remember the bullying and the racism we suffered as kids in and how tough that was. But it gave me a deep understanding of what's truly offensive and what's not."

Peter was born in London to Greek-Cypriot parents before he moved to Australia when he was six years old.

He added: "If someone dressed up with a curly wig and a big nose, doing a Greek accent, I'd probably laugh - it depends on the intention. But if someone said 'I hate you Greeks' or made hateful comments about our skin, that's where the line is. That's racism."

The star says he was once tied to a fence because of his darker skin tones while children with blonde hair and blue eyes threw stones at his head.

He said in 2019: "I remember these kids tied me up to a fence and took turns throwing stones at me trying to see who was going to hit me in the head. They were laughing and calling me a 'greasy w**', it was horrific. I was really scared, I was petrified."

The star says he still straightens his hair because "the curly hair reminds me of me being that little kid and those kids calling me what they did at school." He told The Mirror: "Not only were we the only Greeks on the Gold Coast, but I had an English accent, curly hair, a big nose - and we really stood out."

He now "can't bring [himself] to turn up to an event with full curly hair", despite having therapy to combat the taunts.