Simone Biles grew up in Columbus, Ohio with three other siblings and a mother battling drug addiction. By the time she was three years old, she was in foster care getting regular visits from her grandfather Ron. At the age of six, he adopted her. On Monday night’s Dancing With The Stars Most Memorable Year week, the Olympic gold medalist broke down in tears while recalling 2000, the year of her adoption.
In the interview that aired before her dance, the 20-year-old described the conditions in which she grew up in before being placed in foster care. “My biological mom was suffering from drug and alcohol abuse and she was in and out of jail.” She continued, “I never had mom to run to. I do remember always being hungry and afraid.” “Whenever we had visits with my grandpa I was so excited. That was the person I always wanted to see,” she told her partner Sasha Farber as her voice quivered from the emotional story.
Her grandfather-turned-father is then interviewed, “I didn’t want the kids in foster care, I just said ‘send them to me.'” Simone and her sister Adria went to live with Ron and his wife Nellie Cayetano Biles in Texas.
