Amber Riley's character Mercedes Jones is sort of the Jennifer Hudson of Fox's "Glee," a sitcom about the go-go world of high school music and theatre. She's cute and spunky with a glass-shattering voice. She also happens to be full-figured.

 
Amber recently spoke to Life & Style magazine about body confidence.
 
“You’re not your dress size, you’re not your shoe size, you’re not your pants size," she said. "If I’m going to wear a name tag, it’s going to say ‘Amber Riley,’ not ‘Fat Girl’!”
 
Amber also spoke to the mag about fashion, which is one of her passions. She said that she loves shoes and prefers shapely silhouettes instead of "plus-size clothes that look like a tent."
 
Amber, a size 16 who admires Queen Latifah and J. Hud, also made an appearance on "The Wendy Williams Show" last month to promote the show. She revealed that she tried out for "American Idol" at age 17, but didn't make it on the show.
 
"But you know what? I still work on FOX and I get paid," she told Wendy. "Thank you 'American Idol'!"
 
We love it!

-- Whitney Teal

Here's more:
Beverly Johnson's daughter goes all out
Jourdan Dunn and Chanel Iman talk babies and fashion
Forever 21 to debut a plus-size line