Loose Women star fights back tears as she makes harrowing childhood confession

The Loose Women panel were all emotional as they listened to Dame Kelly Holmes chat about her life, with the former athlete admitting she once lived in care and was homeless

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Loose Women turned emotional as the panel listened to Dame Kelly Holmes speak about her harrowing upbringing.

The Olympic gold medalist, took part in ITV’s Life before Loose on Wednesday (August 28), where she glanced back at her past – admitting: “I’m just a girl from a council estate.”

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She fought back tears as she explained that her mum had fallen pregnant at the age of 17 and back then, in the 70s, the sportswoman said it wasn’t the done thing to be a solo parent, at that time.

Kelly’s mum Pam, faced pressure from her own parents to give up her daughter for adoption, but each time she came to sign the paperwork, she decided to not go through with it.

For the first five years of her life, the athlete admitted to the panel that she’d grown up in care. She recalled: “I was in a care home for the first five years of my life.

“That was more so because my grandparents told my mum that she was too young to look after me and I was born and bred in Kent so it was very white… erm.. culture and I’m mixed raced obviously, so it was very taboo in the 70s.”

Kelly Holmes makes raw confession about growing up

Speaking about her mum, she added: “She put me in there to find herself. I was very fortunate in a way that she was strong enough not to put me up for adoption.”

She added: “They tried to get me about three times and she went to sign the papers and then didn’t so I feel that is the one thing we have in common. That strength of like ‘no’.”

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The talented long-distance runner went on to hail her step-father Michael Norris who had been a constant figure in her life, even though his relationship with her mother actually broke down when she was just 19.

Kelly slipped into her former Olympic outfit
Kelly explained that she had gone through life not knowing her biological father after he’d walked out on her when she was just six months old – although she did add that they’d later had a chance supermarket meeting once.

Prompting the discussion surrounding her upbringing, co-star Janet Street-Porter probed: The person that you call dad, is your dad Mick? Kelly, nodded as she explained: “Yeah, I was seven when they got married. Five when they met. Even though he separated from my mum when I was 19, he’s stayed in my life.

“Step-parents should get a lot of credibility,” hailed the TV star, receiving a huge round of applause from the audience and panel.

Kelly hailed her best friend and teacherDon’t Miss
The Dame then lunged from her seat to welcome her best friend Kerry and her former PE teacher Miss Page after the Loose Women team had surprised her with their visit.

Kelly’s turmoil past didn’t end there with the TV star later admitting that she’d once been down on her luck and her friend on the programme had kindly given her a roof over her head.

“I ended up having to leave home when I was younger for a bit and I went to live with my best friend Kerry and her mum, who I love,” the professional runner emotionally said.

She went on to praise Miss Page for being her inspiration when she needed it the most during her teens. Telling viewers that if it hadn’t been for her teacher’s intervention, she may have never realised her hidden track talent.

Miss Page believed in the two-time gold medalist after spotting her natural ability. Kelly’s teacher took it upon herself to inspire the budding athlete to take it up professionally – which we now know she did.