It is the second round of Britain’s Got Talent auditions tonight – and one contestant hoping to wow Simon Cowell and company is Kojo Anim.
Like many talent show contestants, the 42-year-old stand-up comedian comes with his own heart-wrenching back story.
Kojo was put into foster care when he was just five years old.
However, the father-of-one won’t be looking for sympathy from the judges or the audience – he insists the experience was a positive one.
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Ghana-born Kojo was only supposed to stay at his foster home for three months, but he got on so well with his foster mum – known fondly to him as Aunt Sandra – that he ended up residing there until he was 16.
He told the Mirror: “I don’t look at being in foster care as a bad thing. I look at it as a blessing.
“I was happy with my foster mum – so much so that when the time came to go and see my [real] mum, it was a struggle for me. Not because I didn’t like her, but because Aunt Sandra was everything I needed in a mother.”
Kojo – who now has a son of his own, eight-month-old Roman-Kingsley, with his fiancee Tiffany – refuses to subscribe to the idea that foster children are at a disadvantage.
He added: “Although you might not have your own parents, sometimes they might not be the best thing for you anyway.”
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Indeed, he’s already enjoyed a pretty successful career.
Having set up his own comedy night in a wine bar, he helped introduce US comics Kevin Hart and Dave Chapelle to audiences in the UK.
As a mark of appreciation, Hart allowed Kojo to open for him when he played a gig in front of 12,000 people at Wembley in 2014.
Kojo will be hoping he can follow in the footsteps of Lost Voice Guy – aka Lee Ridley – who won Britain’s Got Talent last year with his stand-up routine.
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