Yahoo News Celebrity Race Across the World's Kola Bokinni opened up about dad's dementia
Celebrity Race Across the World and Ted Lasso star Kola Bokinni has previously shared the devastating impact dementia has had on his family.
Ted Lasso star Kola Bokinni is about to be seen taking the journey of a lifetime on Celebrity Race Across the World, but the actor has been facing family tragedy in recent years with his father's dementia.
Bokinni stars as footballer Isaac McAdoo in the Apple TV series and has also appeared in Top Boy and Black Mirror.
However, the actor has previously opened up on the heartbreak he has been living with at home alongside his career taking off.
Ahead of Celebrity Race Across the World returning to BBC One on 14 August, here is what Bokinni has previously said about his father Taiwo's battle with vascular dementia.
Kola Bokinni's emotional BBC Breakfast interview
The TV star bravely opened up on his father's dementia diagnosis in an interview with BBC Breakfast in 2023, in support of an Alzheimer's Research UK charity campaign.
Bokinni posted a clip of the interview to Instagram, writing: "This was an incredibly hard conversation to have because it is so close to my heart..We have to fight this hideous disease that has destroyed so many lives. Dementia doesn't just destroy the victim’s life, it destroys everyone around that person, slowly, little by little."
He told the news programme of his dad Taiwo: "He was a proud man, loved to cook, loves a laugh, life and soul of the party. He was like everyone's uncle...a happy, pleasant, polite man who loved community."
Bokinni described the devastating effects of dementia on his father as he said: "It's horrible, to watch someone you idolise literally deteriorating in front of your eyes, and there's nothing you can do."
"I think he's completely different from what he was like before, he's like a different person," he added. "He doesn't remember any of us. If you lose your memories, you lose your ability to walk, to make yourself food, to have daily functioning behaviour is all memory. If you lose that then you lose almost everything about yourself."
Asked what it was like to deal with his father's illness while becoming famous for hit series Ted Lasso, Bokinni admitted: "It's unbelievably difficult. He went missing for almost 12 hours and we found him opposite side of London. Just pyjamas, no shoes. Wherever I'm going, people are going, 'oh my god, your life is going so well.' In the back of my mind, I'm thinking, little do you know."
Kola Bokinni's support for Alzheimer's Research UK
Bokinni first spoke about Taiwo's diagnosis in 2023 to support the charity's new awareness campaign, Change The Ending.
He said: "I first noticed something wasn’t right about four years ago when I was filming the first series of Ted Lasso. I’d come home and I noticed things like he’d forgotten to eat. He was always a very meticulous person who was very clean and image proud and had a set routine. Sometimes I’d return and he’d still be in bed at 12noon, when he was normally someone who would get up at 8am every morning.
"I knew things were seriously wrong when he thought my cousin was my girlfriend, but I had no idea what it could be. We got him in for some tests and found out he had vascular dementia.”
Bokinni continued: "My dad was the life and soul of the party. He was so generous and always really happy, but sadly dementia has taken all that away from him. Dementia doesn’t just affect the person who has the diagnosis, it affects the whole family. It’s so hard to sit back and watch someone become a shell of their former self."
Kola Bokinni's Race Across the World journey
Later this summer, BBC One viewers will see Bokinni and his cousin Mary Ellen take on the second series of Celebrity Race Across the World.
The show is known for its pairs of racers opening up on the often tough life experiences that have shaped them as they journey the race route.
Joining them on the show are Jeff Brazier and his son Freddy, Kelly Brook and her husband Jeremy Parisi, and Scott Mills and his husband Sam Vaughan.
The route has been announced as travelling through the Amazon, from northern Brazil to southern Chile.
Celebrity Race Across the World begins on BBC One at 9pm on 14 August.
