Lavished with love NEW
Actor Jimmy Akingbola reflects on his childhood growing up in foster care…
HANDLE WITH CARE Tuesday, 9pm, ITV Factual
Of the nearly half a million kids in care in Britain, over 40% are black, yet black foster families are relatively rare.
Aged just two, Holby City and Rev actor Jimmy Akingbola was fostered by a white British family. Now living in Hollywood with a glittering career, the Bel-air star returns to Britain to explore how his upbringing shaped him in ITV documentary Handle with Care.
‘Growing up, my mum struggled with schizophrenia and my dad believed that I wasn’t his son, so he took custody of my three siblings and I was fostered by the Crowes, who were white,’ explains Jimmy.
‘They didn’t worry that I was a young black kid – they just loved me.’
With contributions from his foster family and biological siblings Morounke, Sola and Segun, as well as actor Lennie James and retired Olympic athlete Kriss Akabusi, who also grew up in care, Jimmy ponders this question:
Is a loving family more important when raising children than ethnic background?
Family matters
‘Although I felt abandoned by my biological parents, I had the unconditional love of my foster family,’ explains Jimmy. ‘And I realised now how tough it was for my siblings being raised by a single father. So did I have it better?’
It’s an emotional journey for Jimmy, especially when he discovers the east London youth centre he attended has been named after him…
‘I used to talk about my dreams there; now my name’s on the door,’ he says. ‘I’m proud of where I’ve come from – it’s made me the man I am today.’