Emotional Jason Mohammad ‘the most overwhelmed he’s been on TV’ as he meets childhood Cardiff City hero
The BBC presenter was blown away by the “amazing experience”
BBC presenter Jason Mohammad said he was the most emotional he has ever been in front of a camera after meeting his childhood footballing hero as part of a new TV show.
The 50-year-old met former Cardiff City star Dave Bennett as part of the new S4C series Taith Bywyd (Life Journey) in which he is taken on a journey to meet the people who changed his life and those who influenced his career. A lifelong Bluebirds fan, one of the most emotional moments of the episode – which airs on Sunday (January 21) – comes when he pays a visit to Cardiff City Stadium.
There, he meets Bennett and is brought close to tears as he reveals that their meeting made him feel like a young boy again. Sign up to the free Cardiff City WhatsApp service here.
READ MORE: Being Jason Mohammad: Success, family and the 2009 trip that changed his life
Together with his brother Gary, Bennett represented Cardiff in the early 1980s, with the siblings the only two black players at the club at the time. Speaking to Mohammad and the show’s presenter, Owain Williams, the 64-year-old opened up on the challenges he and Gary faced because of their race.
“It was very difficult for black players at the time,” he said. “If you weren’t doing well, you got to know about it. They let me know about it a little bit more than say, the average white guy. But we didn’t realise what we were doing was breaking down barriers. It has come a long way but there’s still a long way to go.”
Mohammad, who grew up with a Pakistani father and Welsh mother in the Cardiff neighbourhood of Ely, has previously spoken about his own experiences of racist abuse and was visibly moved by the conversation with a man he idolised as a Bluebirds-obsessed youngster.
