With her glamorous image and English accent, Sharon Carpenter is one of America's most recognisable TV reporters and has interviewed celebrities ranging from Oprah Winfrey to George Lucas .

But the London-born presenter for Black Entertainment Television (BET) says her career would never have been possible in the UK where ethnic women are a rarity on our screens and black culture is demoted to the sidelines.

Today, Carpenter lives in Brooklyn, New York a long way away from the Guildford neighbourhood in which she grew up and suffered racist taunts due to her mixed race background.

It was only when her parents - both doctors - were invited to study at America's prestigious Harvard University that she dared to dream of a career in TV.

In an interview with Carpenter last week, she told me why the move across the pond inspired her.

"I never really considered a career in television until I moved to America for University. Growing up in the UK I never felt that an opportunity like that could exist for me so it was never even a thought.

"A career like that just seemed too unreachable because I rarely saw any TV personalities or reporters that looked anything like me. Once I moved to America I think that's when I actually realised that there's a world of opportunity out there, the world is my oyster and I could do anything I wanted.

"Everyday you see and hear about people who have made it big at a young age, people of all colours, in every field, some of whom have come from the most humble beginnings. This really is the land of opportunity."

Unfortunately the same cannot be said about Britain - particularly for black people looking to carve out a successful career in TV.

The issue has become a hot talking point in recent weeks.

Lenny Henry , one of the first black people to make it onto mainstream British TV, fired the opening salvo in a speech to the Royal Television Society earlier this year when he said the industry had failed to employ a representative workforce - in front and behind the cameras.

His views were backed up by the multi-talented Meera Syal and Samir Shah, a former head of current affairs at the BBC

It was soon followed by the launch of Underexposed a photographic exhibition featuring a series of striking portraits of black British actors.

The project was conceived by the actor Fraser James, in response to claims in the media that a lack of strong, positive role models was to blame for a rise in youth crime in Britain's black community.

James' argument is that there is no shortage of talent out there - just a shortage of opportunities and lack of visibility.

Which brings me back to Carpenter, a British woman who gets fanmail from all over the US, yet is unknown in the UK.

But that could soon change , after BET launched in the UK last month.

The channel caters to black people - with a particular focus on hip hop music, culture and fashion - but is in no way a niche brand in the US.

Carpenter adds: "There are definitely differences between the US and the UK in terms of black culture.
Black culture over here is way more mainstream. In the UK there has been a lack of programming that truly reflects black culture. Growing up I rarely saw images of girls or women that looked like me and even today, young girls are experiencing that same void. It's having a serious impact on some of them.

Unfortunately, I think too many of us just accept this type of ethnic exclusion but it's up to us as people of colour to do something about it and work to make a change. Combined ethnic minorities are a very powerful consumer force and money talks."

Sharon Carpenter is not the only one that got away.

From the singer Estelle,who topped the charts last month with American Boy to the actress Caroline Chikezie who stars in the cult show Supernatural to the comedian Gina Yashere, who has just finished shooting a comedy special in LA, all feel that their ethnicity is a strength and not a liability in America - and have no plans to return to Britain anytime soon.

Henry Bonsu, a former BBC presenter and director of Colourful Radio, who has just finished shooting a documentary for BET on the subject, said: "If Sharon has stuck around in the UK she probably would have got a couple of gigs on MTV maybe. In reality she would have had a fraction of the opportunities she has in the US. In Britain, the media bosses and commissioning editors have mental shackles. Do they trust whether a black woman would connect with their viewers? I doubt it.

"It's inspirational that talented women like Sharon are building their careers in the US., and not letting the lack of opportunities in the UK dishearten them."