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The Real Mo Farah: Everything you need to know about BBC documentary

The Olympic star has opened up about his childhood

mo farah doc
Nicky Morris
TV and film writer
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Sir Mo Farah shocked the nation when he revealed that he was trafficked to the UK as a child and forced to work as a domestic servant. 

MORE: Sir Mo Farah makes heartbreaking revelation about his past

In the BBC's new documentary, The Real Mo Farah, the Olympian reveals that his real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin and that he was given the name Mohamed Farah by those who flew him over from East Africa. 

WATCH: Sir Mo Farah opens up about working for a family which was not his own

What is the Mo Farah documentary about?  

The documentary tells the story of how at the age of nine years old, Mo was taken from Djibouti and flown to the UK by a woman he had never met before, who told him he was going to live with relatives in Europe.

While Mo, 39, had previously said that he came to the country from Somalia with his parents as a refugee, the truth is that his parents have never been to the UK and his mother and two brothers live on their family farm in the state of Somaliland.

MORE: Sir Mo Farah's family home looks like a holiday villa

EXCLUSIVE: At home with Mo Farah, his wife Tania and their children

His father, Abdi, was killed during the ongoing Somali civil war by stray gunfire when Mo was just four years old.  

mo mother© Photo: BBC

Mo reunites with his mother in the programme

When he landed in the UK, the woman took Mo to her flat in Hounslow, west London and ripped up the piece of paper that listed his family's contact details.

The long-distance runner told the BBC that the woman said to him: "If you ever want to see your family again, don't say anything."

"Often I would just lock myself in the bathroom and cry," he added. 

mo school© Photo: BBC

The documentary is available to watch on BBC iPlayer

The Olympic star reunited with his mother, Aisha, in the documentary. "Never in my life did I think I would see you or your children alive," Aisha tells her son in the programme. "We were living in a place with nothing, no cattle, and destroyed land. We all thought we were dying. 'Boom, boom, boom,' was all we heard."

How to watch the documentary and what time is it on? 

The documentary is now available to watch on BBC iPlayer and will air on BBC One on Wednesday 13 July at 9pm. 

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