Entertainment
Fatima Whitbread opens up about childhood in emotional SAS: Who Dares Wins scene: ‘I was abandoned as a baby and left to die’-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro
The Olympic medallist is one of 14 celebs taking part this year.
Fatima opens up in an emotional mirror room scene (Picture: Channel 4 / Pete Dadds)
In an emotional mirror room scene on tonight’s SAS: Who Dares Wins, Fatima Whitbread MBE opens up about her emotional childhood, telling DS (Directing Staff) Mark ‘Billy’ Billingham and Jason ‘Foxy’ Fox that she was ‘abandoned as a baby and left to die.’
The 61-year-old joins Love Island winner Amber Gill, EastEnders actress Maisie Smith and Strictly Come Dancing’s AJ Pritchard as the Channel 4 show returns to screens showcasing some pretty intense training.
AJ’s brother Curtis has also signed up for the new series, as well as footballer Ashley Cain and former Olympic sprinter Dwayne Chambers.
After impressing the DS during the notorious gassing challenge, in which, unlike many of the other celebs, she kept her cool, Fatima opens in the mirror room, telling Billy and Foxy: ‘Yeah it’s hard, I didn’t expect it not to be, but you dig deep and see what you’ve got.’
Foxy replies: ‘I’ve known you since a young age, and you’re like an inspiration to me.’
She then shares: ‘I was abandoned as a baby, and some would say left to die, in a flat in London, and a neighbour heard that baby crying for a couple of days and didn’t see anyone coming or going, so she reported it.’
She joins 13 other celebs this series (Picture: Channel 4/PA Wire)
The javelin Olympic medallist continues: ‘The police obviously came along, banged the door down, rescued the baby and it got taken into hospital, where I stayed for six months.
‘I spent the first 14 years of my life in children’s homes, I didn’t have any visits, I didn’t have any birthday cards or anything to indicate that there was anybody out there.
‘I was fortunate to find the love of the Whitbread family at 14,’ explaining this came about through sport being her ‘saviour’.
She explains that it was her javelin coach at the time, ‘Mrs Whitbread,’ while Fatima was at school, that took her in, creating the bond she has with her brothers.
The javelin Olympic medallist said sport was her ‘saviour’ as a child (Picture: Channel 4 / Pete Dadds)
Billy (L) and Foxy (R) are joined by DS Remi Adeleke and Rudy Reyes (Picture: Channel 4 / Pete Dadds)
She adds: ‘It wasn’t roses for anyone, we had to work at it, but we’ve become a really good family.’
After listening to her emotional story, Billy and Foxy praise Fatima’s ‘mindset’, warning her not to ‘compete’ with the ‘kids’ in the line-up, including the likes of Ferne McCann and Pete Wicks.
‘You’re going to be teaching them in there a few things or two, because of your life experience and what you’ve been through and the resilience you’ve built up,’ Foxy adds.
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Celebrity SAS was first broadcast in the spring of 2019, with former Chelsea and Manchester City footballer Wayne Bridge emerging victorious.
Paralympic athlete Lauren Steadman and DJ Locksmith of dance group Rudimental both took the crown on the show in 2020.
And last year there were three winners: X Factor winner Alexandra Burke, Paralympic athlete Aled Davies, and TV personality Wes Nelson.
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins returns to Channel 4 tonight, Sunday, 4 September at 9pm.
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