BAFTA Fellowship recipient Baroness Floella Benjamin feels like she’s finally “beaten all the challenges” as she looks back on her career and prepares to receive BAFTA’s highest honour. The iconic presenter, 74, will accept her well-earned accolade at the glittering event held at London’s Royal Festival Hall on May 12, and hosted by Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan.
“It’s wonderful that I’m being acknowledged in this way,” Lady Benjamin exclusively told OK! days before accepting her award. “But the best thing that’s happening is that everyone, the whole of the country, is pouring so much love into me, and this award means so much to them. I represent their childhood and they feel as if I’m one of their family members. It’s such a great feeling of pure love.”
(Image: BAFTA via Getty Images)
Floella came to the UK from Trinidad in 1960, when she was aged 10, as part of the Windrush generation. She later became one of our best loved TV stars, first appearing on Play School from 1976 to 1988, before later joining Playdays. As well as her career as a TV presenter, Floella is an actress, singer, author and legislator, sitting in the House of Lords. Throughout it all, she has campaigned for what she calls “diversity nirvana”, and has spent her life creating a legacy of inclusion for people of all races and abilities.
In the face of racism and discrimination, Floella has always kept her composure and forged ahead with grace, love and, above all, her famous smile.
“I have faced many adversities but I’ve always broken down those barriers with a smile, with confidence, and by showing people what was missing,” says Floella. “When I was on Play School, I used to tell the stories, and I said to the producer one day, ‘The illustrations are all of white children. Can we have some Black and Asian and Chinese faces?’ And she said to me, ‘Oh, we hadn’t noticed.’ I got them to notice, and I take credit for children’s programmes being so diverse because I was there to speak out and say, ‘This has got to change.’”
(Image: PA)
With Floella blazing a trail, she opened up opportunities for others and helped people follow in her footsteps. “Everywhere I’ve gone, everything I’ve done has been to open people’s hearts and minds to embrace differences,” she says. “It’s everything I’ve dreamt about, everything I’ve fought to achieve, and it’s happening. I feel as if I paved the way for us to move forward.”
One of Floella’s proudest achievements is her book, Coming To England, which tells her own story, and was made into a film by the BBC. It’s now read in schools and she gets letters every day from grateful children.
“Children write to me and say they understand about differences now,” says Floella. “Every school in Britain has this book. I get hundreds of letters from children telling me they’ll never, ever hate anybody because of the colour of their skin or their religion or their culture. If I died tomorrow, I know I’ve left a lasting legacy.”
Staying strong in the face of racism and discrimination hasn’t always been easy, but Floella has kept to a strong philosophy passed down from her beloved mother, who she calls “Marmie”. “When a door closed in my face, I knew that every disappointment is an appointment with something better,” she says. “Everything happens for a reason.”
(Image: PA)
Floella has made a point of forgiving those who have wronged her, which has allowed her to keep focusing on her own progress. “Forgiveness frees the soul,” she explains. “If I’m angry, if I’m bitter, I won’t get through because that will be consuming my energy. I have to keep smiling. The people who’ve been really quite awful to me in this business, they were the first ones to write to me when BAFTA made the announcement that I was getting the Fellowship. I was so determined to win through and I never showed the people who were wicked to me any anger, any hatred. They never knew they were hurting me. Now they’ve seen how I am rising, and more and more wonderful things are happening to me, they realise I’ve won. It shows them they need to rethink their behaviour. I’ve faced all the challenges.”
Rising above racism is easier said than done, but Floella’s bright, unassailable smile is her secret weapon. “I’ve got this force and inner energy, and my smile is my armour,” she says. “When people see it, they realise they cannot penetrate it, even though they try it time and time again.”
(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Pragnell)
When she first arrived in the UK, Floella was met with racism on a daily basis. “When I was 14, I realised you don’t get angry, you get even, and you smile,” she explains. “When you smile, a certain chemical goes into your system. Not only does it keep your cheekbones up so you don’t get wrinkly, but it also gives you this energy, this force, and it’s amazing.”
It’s a lesson Floella passes on to children to help them feel empowered. “I go into schools and I get the children to smile and shout out, ‘I am worthy, I am worthy, I am worthy!’” says Floella. “When you do that, you feel so energised and empowered, you can do anything. That’s the message I want to pass on.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Floella continues to work hard, but her greatest achievement is her family. For 53 years, she has been in love with her husband, Keith Taylor, who gave her the heart necklace she still wears every day. Together, they have a son, Aston, and a daughter, Alvina.
“We’ve been together 53 years, my husband and I,” says Floella. “We were born a day apart – same year, same month, same everything. When he was 10, he came from Yorkshire to London, and when I was 10, I came from Trinidad to London, and we lived streets apart. For nine years, our lives criss-crossed until we met in the theatre 54 years ago – and we’ve been together ever since.”
View news Source: https://www.ok.co.uk/tv/i-won-beaten-challenges-tv-32789701
