Naya Rivera, who plays cheerleader Santana in the show, made the comments on US chat show The View.
‘I have a theory about showering, which is white people shower a lot more than ethnics.’
‘I feel like showering more than once a day or every day is such a white people thing,’ added the star.
Host Rosie O’Donnell challenged the young actress, telling her: ‘There is an African-American woman right there that is about to have a heart attack.’
The 28-year-old went on to say that her husband, Ryan Dorsey, who is white, showers ‘a lot.’
‘I’m like, “What are you doing?”’
‘You are only supposed to shower once or twice every three days, so I’m right on the mark.’
Despite the backlash to her comments, Naya later tweeted: ‘When you get out of the shower today, get a sense of humour. Love ya!’