27 June 2023 , 09:14
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Ellie Simmonds is a world renowned athlete, winning two gold medals in the 2008 Paralympics at just aged 13 before going on to secure more golds at the London 2012 games and even set a world record in Rio as she won yet another gold.
She has since gone on to be awarded with an OBE and has appeared in a number of TV shows, most recently 2022's Strictly Come Dancing.
Despite her incredible successes, and the love of her adoptive family, Ellie's beginnings were tough and she was left devastated when she was told her mum wished she had passed away when she was born after doctors told her Ellie would be ridiculed and seen as “evil” and “stupid”.
The Paralympian revealed for the first time to the Mirror that she was adopted when she was three months old but has now been reunited with her birth mother.
Last year embarked on a journey to find her blood family after finding out she had been put up for adoption at 10 days old, but was left heartbroken after discovering her mum's wish and doctors' cruel comments about her when she was born.
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Yet Ellie, who was born with achondroplasia, which is the most common form of dwarfism, still wanted to find her birth mother.
Here's a look inside Ellie's adoption, love life and reality show stint.
Ellie has met her birth mumAdoption
Ellie has said since her first five hour meeting with her mum, the pair are still in touch and are working on rebuilding their relationship.
In a new ITV documentary, she said: "Until now, it’s never emotionally affected me, it never made me feel rejected or ask why do my birth parents not want me. I’ve been so focused on the future and never thought about it."
Ellie, who won five gold medals during her career in Beijing, London and Rio, has talked about her parents being her biggest supporters but never before revealed how they adopted her as a baby.
The swimming star and her birth mum first met in a hotel where Ellie said they were "howling with laughter".
Strictly injury
Ellie competed in the 2022 Strictly Come Dancing series where she was paired up with professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin.
They managed to show off their great partnership, making it to week seven.
However, it wasn't all smooth sailing for Ellie as she took quite the tumble during rehearsals.
As she prepared to compete in week six, an impressive lift meant that she missed her feet and fell quite badly.
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She said she was left a bit sore but managed to get through it.
Love life
Away from her life of fame, Ellie tends to keep her personal life quite private.
Ellie has had a long term boyfriend after a friendship turned romantic.
She is currently in a relationship with her boyfriend Matt Dean and have been together for several years after meeting through his parents.