Strictly star Greg Wise’s son was kidnapped, turned into child soldier then lived on streets
STRICTLY Come Dancing star Greg Wise's son was kidnapped, turned into a child soldier and left homeless before his celebrity adoption.
Tindyebwa Agaba's has previously revealed the harrowing story of his early life before he became part of the family in 2003.
Tindy, who is the eldest child of Greg, 55, and wife Emma Thompson, suffered unimaginable horror before he was brought to the UK.
He was a boy soldier in a war zone before he was adopted by the celebrity couple, and now spends his time giving back to human trafficking victims.
Tindy's biological father died of AIDS when he was nine, and aged 12 - soldiers with guns stormed his village in Rwanda and kidnapped him.
He was rounded up alongside nine other children, including his three sisters, and marched through the wilderness for days.
His sisters went missing shortly after and have never been found since, and are presumed murdered by the abusive militia soldiers.
Tindy has previously recalled of how he was kept in a prison camp for three years where he was radicalised and trained as a child soldier.
He finally escaped aged 16 thanks to Care International, and boarded a flight to London where he would claim asylum.
Tindy slept rough on the streets near London's Trafalgar Square before he met actress Emma, 62, at a refugee council event months later.
She kindly offered to help him after all his experiences, and slowly gained his trust by inviting him over for a Christmas Eve dinner.
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"I wondered, 'What does she want?'" Tindy admitted of the invite, before he went to visit Emma and Greg in their £15million house in North London.
Tindy was unable to speak more than a few words of English when he first met Emma, Greg and their biological daughter Gaia.
Nonetheless, he was given his own room at the house - and visiting weekends quickly turned into whole weeks at a time before his "informal" adoption.
Emma and Greg adopted him "informally" as Tindy was old enough to make his own legal decisions, and he moved in with the family permanently.
Emma opened up about her decision to at last finally formally adopt Tindy at the time, saying: "Sometimes being friends is not enough.
"You need family. I think we don’t talk enough about the happiness that it gives you to find new connections with strangers and people who aren’t familiar to you."
Once part of the family, Tindy went on to study at Exeter University as he turned his hand to a politics course.
Sadly, he was the victim of sickening racist abuse, which mum Emma described as "unpleasant experiences" in 2012.
The Nanny McPhee star detailed: "Exeter is very white and middle-class and needs to be cracked open a bit."
It didn't stop Tindyebwa from graduating - and he now has two degrees and speaks an incredible eight languages thanks to his studies.
He recently started working with a specialist group within the Metropolitan Police which focuses on humanitarian aid and helping refugees like him.
Greg proudly said of his son's role: "Tindy is just about to start a job there and he’s doing some very interesting things for them – an adjunct of the work he was doing in war zones.
"Helping struggling people, working with victims of trafficking and radicalisation… that kind of thing. It’s a very rewarding thing to have happened."
GREG'S STRICTLY STINT
There's no doubt that Tindy has been watching dad Greg from home as he competes in this year's Strictly Come Dancing alongside Karen Hauer.
He and Emma's only daughter Gaia, 21, has also been supporting her dad - as she was seen cheering from the audience during the live show.
After impressing the judges - aside from Shirley Ballas - Greg and his dance partner Karen Hauer headed upstairs to catch up with host Claudia Winkleman.
"Your wife and daughter are in the audience," said `Claudia as they appeared on-screen.
Emma pulled a funny face as she mouthed: "She's the wife and I'm the daughter." Gaia threw her head back laughing as the audience cheered.
Claudia added: "Your wife is the one who persuaded you to do it. Are you grateful?"
Greg who starred as Lord Mountbatten in Netflix drama The Crown, replied: "Pathetically grateful, my love. I mean come on, what's not to love?"
Emma cheekily told how she'd given Greg condoms in case he succumbs to the Strictly “curse” and cheats with his dance partner.
Speaking tongue in cheek, the Oscar-winning actress, 62, who married Greg 18 years ago, said: “I am worried about the Strictly curse, very much so.
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"I have put a packet of Durex into Greg’s good luck card. Just two. But you don’t know, do you?
"They haven’t got time for a lot of shagging, I hope, they’ll be so exhausted. But Karen’s gorgeous, she’s from Venezuela and is only 39.”
