Broadcasting legend Chris Kamara has endured a difficult 12 months, from revealing his speech apraxia condition, to leaving Sky Sports after 24 years. But what's his story?
Kamara was born in Middlesbrough and his father was from Sierra Leone. He was inseparable from his mother Irene, who sadly passed away almost 20 years ago. He first enrolled in the Royal Navy before signing his first professional contract with Portsmouth at 16.
According to Leeds Live, Kamara now lives in Wakefield in West Yorkshire with his wife of 40 years. His son and partner live next door with their daughter.
READ MORE: Chris Kamara in tears as he says heartbreaking condition makes him "feel like a fraud"
Football career
Kamara is widely known for his prowess in the broadcasting field, but he first made a name for himself as a professional footballer, plying his trade in midfield.
In a career which spanned from 1975 to 1995, 'Kammy' played for: Portsmouth, Brentford, Swindon, Stoke, Leeds, Luton, Sheffield United, Middlesbrough and finally Bradford.
He didn't enjoy an abundance of success, but did win the second division title with Leeds. An England call up never came, but four years after his retirement, a stellar career was born.
Becoming a broadcasting icon
Despite trying out coaching with Stoke City, in 1998 he began his career as a TV broadcaster, and was pushed towards it by his wife Anne.
Kamara became a fan favourite on the ever-popular Sky Sports Soccer Saturday show, and went completely viral in the early days of social media when he comically missed a red card being handed out whilst reporting on Portsmouth v Blackburn.
You can watch a clip below.
Kamara has also featured as a TV presenter on Sky Sports' Goals on Sunday (in a more analytical role) and Ninja Warrior UK. He has also featured on TV shows such as Michael McIntyre's Send To All and The Great Sport Relief Bake Off.
Singing career
Kamara released a Christmas album back in 2019, and those songs still get over 32,000 hits every month. He describes himself as 'a bit of a singer' in his Twitter bio.
The Middlesbrough man also released a song for England at Euro 2012 entitled 'Sing 4 England', which has racked up over 300,000 views on YouTube.
Struggles with speech apraxia
After 24 years, Kamara left his role with Sky Sports in May. He later revealed that he had been struggling with speech apraxia, which made him "feel like a fraud" talking on entrepreneur Steven Bartlett's Diary Of A CEO podcast.
The condition makes speaking very difficult. It is described by the NHS as follows - "a person with speech apraxia knows what they would like to say, but they have difficulty getting their jaw, lips and tongue to move in the way required to form words." It is caused by damage to parts of the brain that are responsible for producing speech.
Kamara told Bartlett that it feels like someone has taken his voice box.
"The voice that used to come out would come out at 300 miles an hour, you’ve seen me on the results and Soccer Saturday, motormouth, talking and not even waiting for a breath, just keep going and going.
"Now when I hear myself or see myself on TV it’s someone else. It’s really strange.
"Strange in terms of, I feel a fraud now in terms of broadcasting; I don’t bring to the table what I used to. I feel I’m doing these programmes and they’re not getting the best of me, but they’re tolerating me, that’s how it feels.”
Kamara has since been praised for his bravery in opening up on his struggles, and has dealt with the condition well after appearing on The Masked Singer and being unveiled as Ghost last weekend.
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