Ted Lasso actor Kola Bokinni reveals dad has dementia, as he supports powerful new campaign from Alzheimer’s Research UK

Ted Lasso star Kola Bokinni has publicly shared for the first time the devastating impact dementia has had on his family to drive awareness and support Alzheimer’s Research UK’s search for a cure.

The 31-year-old actor, who plays AFC Richmond captain Isaac McAdoo in the Emmy and SAG Award winning Apple TV+ series, has revealed that his father, Taiwo, is living with vascular dementia. The 81-year-old first started showing symptoms four years ago, when Kola was filming the first series of the hit TV show, and he now requires round-the-clock care.

“I first noticed something wasn’t right about four years ago when I was filming the first series of Ted Lasso,” said Kola, about his father’s dementia. “I’d come home and I noticed things like he’d forgotten to eat. He was always a very meticulous person who was very clean and image proud and had a set routine. Sometimes I’d return and he’d still be in bed at 12noon, when he was normally someone who would get up at 8am every morning. I knew things were seriously wrong when he thought my cousin was my girlfriend, but I had no idea what it could be. We got him in for some tests and found out he had vascular dementia.”

Kola opened up about the heartbreaking effect of dementia on his family in support of Alzheimer’s Research UK’s new campaign film, Change The Ending, voiced by Oscar-winning actor Olivia Colman. The powerful film puts a spotlight on the many heartbreaking ways dementia affects people’s lives.