Ellie Simmonds sobs over birth mother’s rejection as she wins BAFTA for emotional doc

ok.co.uk:

Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds scooped up a BAFTA for her ITV documentary, Ellie Simmonds: Finding My Secret Family, on Sunday 12 May - and found it tough to talk about.

Ellie, 29, set about finding her birth mother during the ITV documentary which she says was ‘a very emotional journey’. After Ellie delivered her speech on the BAFTA stage, she revealed she had a ‘cry’ outside.

Ellie explained: “It seems like it’s a tradition at the moment. It’s processing it again - it was a very emotional journey and a very emotional story. “It took over a year to film, it was a long process.” As Ellie opened up about her experience, she revealed that the reaction from fans has been incredible. “I knew that I was always adopted and I spoke about it with my teammates, my friends, my family - but actually the wider world and the public and the media never knew.” “Since opening up and going on this journey and then the documentary as well, I've had so many people reach out to me in the streets who have said ‘I'm adopted’ or ‘I know someone who's adopted’.

And I think adoption is a subject that we don't really talk about but is touched by a lot of people.” However, as Ellie spoke about how proud she is of the documentary and journey - there is one part she can’t bear to watch back. “I was writing a letter to my birth mum and I can't watch it now or think about it.