I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! legend Fatima Whitbread has returned for the South Africa series, as the athlete attempts to win the jungle crown.
She will be joining celebs including boxing champion Amir Khan, Coronation Street’s Helen Flanagan and TV legend Carol Vorderman on the series, with hosts Ant and Dec returning at the helm.
On her previous I’m A Celeb stint, Fatima opened up about her life both on the athletics field and away from the limelight, including her marriage to ex husband Andrew Norman and being offered the chance to be a Bond girl.
READ MORE: I’m A Celeb’s Helen Flanagan cried as phone got taken from her by ITV producers
Here, Daily Star takes a look inside Fatima Whitbread’s life.
‘Harrowing childhood’
(Image: Channel 5)
Fatima has opened up about her childhood during interviews and TV appearances throughout the years – and how sport saved her following a series of harrowing ordeals.
The athlete was abandoned in a flat in London as a baby, but after hearing her cries, neighbours came to her help and called the police, who found Fatima malnourished and dehydrated.
She was moved to a children’s home in Essex and met her biological mother when she was five years old, but despite being taken from the home on one occasion by her mother, she was later sent back to the home.
Fatima also spent one week with her biological father, but after he promised her that he would collect her again from the home, he never returned.
The athlete opened up about this moment during an interview with The Guardian, saying: “I sat on the front wall for a whole weekend.
“The second weekend, I did the same thing. I think that cracked me, emotionally. I put these walls up around myself to secure me.”
(Image: Pete Dadds / Channel 4)
Fatima’s biological mother later returned to try and take her from the home, but was stopped by a woman who worked at the home known as Auntie Rae.
However when Fatima was 11 years old, she was taken by her biological mother from the home to London and in a harrowing incident, she was raped by a man who was staying at the flat.
She was left traumatised by the incident and when she returned to the children’s home, she refused to go to school, explaining: “I just became withdrawn. Having not spoken to anyone about it, I felt ashamed, dirty.”
Fatima explained that she tried to talk to a social worker about it, but “nobody took notice of the kids” – and that it was sport that saved her after she began attending a local athletics club.
(Image: Getty Images)
“It gave me a sense of freedom, forgetting all the problems that were going on in the home and the life we were living,” said Fatima.
“It gave me a sense of achievement, that here was something I was good at. I got validation from my PE teachers and my school friends and started to realise life was a bit more positive. I realised that this could be my way out.”
At the local athletics club, Fatima met a javelin coach called Margaret Whitbread who not only coached the young star – but also fostered her – with athlete soon destined to become an Olympic great.
Speaking on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, Fatima paid tribute to Margaret as she said: “I was fortunate to find the love of the Whitbread family at 14.”
Olympic fame
(Image: Bob Thomas Sports Photography via Getty Images)
In 1979, Fatima was crowned the European Junior Champion – and from there, it was onwards and upwards for the athletic star.
From there she garnered global fame as she became a European and world champion, as well as breaking the world record in javelin with a throw of 77.4m.
That’s not all, as she claimed bronze at the 1984 Olympics and won silver in the 1988 competition too.
Fatima was later voted Britain’s Sports Personality of the Year in 1987 and continued to earn accolades, including a gold medal at the World and European Championships – as well as silver and bronze medals at the Commonwealth games.
However, Fatima retired from the sport in 1992 following a shoulder injury.
Athlete ‘feud’
(Image: Getty Images)
While competing around the world, it was reported that Fatima had a feud with athletics rival and fellow British javelin champion Tessa Sanderson.
The two regularly competed against one another in the same events, with publications at the time speaking about a “rivalry” between the pair.
One such competition saw Tessa take victory in the 1986 Commonwealth games, when the athlete won gold in the javelin, with Fatima taking silver.
Speaking about their reported feud, Tessa told Talk Sport: “My rivalry with Fatima Whitbread was one of the toughest I’ve ever known in track and field.
(Image: Getty Images)
“I’m glad it was like that because I needed that to give me the aggression and strength to say: ‘I want it just as much as she does.’ It didn’t matter to me that we weren’t good friends, because I had enough friends.”
However, Fatima recently opened up during an interview with The Guardian and not only revealed that Tessa was her idol, but that she would have liked to have been friends with the star.
“I thought there’s nothing better than to be able to have a good friendship in an event where you can pull together,” said Fatima.
“But everyone’s different, aren’t they? The media, what they instigated, it didn’t lend itself very well [to friendship].”
Love life and rarely seen son
(Image: Times Newspapers/REX/Shutterstock)
It was not just fame that Fatima found in her athletic career, but love too, after she began a relationship with manager Andrew Norman.
Andrew was a promoter for the British Athletics Federation and met the star when he would watch Fatima compete in competitions across the world.
Andrew was previously married to Gerd White, but following their divorce in 1986, Gerd was granted custody of their children Stephen and Kirsti.
Andrew and Fatima later married in 1997 after a long romance and following a third round of IVF treatment, they welcomed one child together called Ryan.
However the couple divorced nine years later in 2006, but continued to remain close friends.
(Image: Getty Images)
Just one year after their divorce though, Andrew died from a sudden heart attack at the age of 64 years old.
Dame Kelly Holmes, who Andrew represented, paid tribute to him in a statement saying: “I am shocked. Andy has been at the core of British athletics and he played a big part in my career. In terms of racing on the circuit, he started me off as an athlete, he got me into races and I remember in Stockholm one year he said follow that girl – indicating Maria Mutola.”
She added: “Andy worked with so many of our big named athletes, he ran British athletics at one stage. My thoughts are with Fatima and their son [Ryan].”
(Image: PA)
Fatima has since opened up in 2012 about her relationships and revealed that she was “ready to find love” again when her son was a teenager.
She explained that now her son was older he didn’t need her around as much, explaining to Daily Mail at the time: “I’ve so been tied up with all my work in the last year that I haven’t even had a chance to sit and have time for my own family.
“But you know my son’s now 14 and he’s got a lot more interests now he doesn’t need mum as much so yeah it would be nice to meet someone and go on a few dates, I think I deserve that now.”
However, the athletic legend tends to keep her personal life private and it is not known if Fatima is single or in a relationship.
‘Turning down Bond Girl role’
(Image: ITV / Rex Features)
During her 2011 I’m a Celeb stint, Fatima revealed that she had the chance to star opposite Roger Moore as a Bond girl in Octopussy.
The athletic legend was asked to a character called Lady Fatima in the iconic 1983 film – but had to turn it down as ex-husband Andrew did not want her to take the role.
She revealed the news to her fellow campmates on I’m a Celeb, saying: “I got offered to do Octopussy years ago, one of the Bond films.
“I was going to play The Lady Fatima who sat on top of James after a fight, but my late husband didn’t want me to do it.
“I should have done it. It would have been great.”
Fatima then joked: “Had it been latest one – Daniel Craig – my late husband wouldn’t have got a say in it.”
I’m A Celebrity… South Africa connection
(Image: ITV / Rex Features)
Fatima has made a return to our TV screens in I’m a Celeb South Africa, alongside stars including Amir Khan, Carol Vorderman and Helen Flanagan.
She appeared on the 11th series of the show in 2011 where she finished in third place and is now returning to try and claim the jungle crown.
However, the star made a sweet admission after revealing that she has a close connection to South Africa, as it was where her son was born.
Speaking to OK! Magazine, she said: “My son was born in South Africa.
(Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
“My late husband worked there for 10 years and it is a country close to my heart. I am looking forward to going back.”
She also praised hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly as she added: “All my family are so excited that I am taking part in this new series and I am a great supporter of Ant & Dec.
“They are two funny characters who always have you cracking up. I am sure they are going to make some jokes about cockroaches and it will be nice to see them again. I’ve not seen them since I was last on I’m A Celebrity.”
I’m A Celebrity… South Africa launches on ITV1 and ITVX on Monday, April 24 at 9pm.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
