"Nobody wanted to know me...my voice didn’t matter" - When Simone Biles opened up about the ordeals she faced in foster care

Simone Biles once revealed that nobody knew or wanted to know her during her time in foster care. The American gymnast spent most of her time in foster care between the ages of three and six before being adopted by her grandparents.

Biles was born to mother Shanon Biles and father Kelvin Clemons in 1997 and was the third of four siblings. However, her mother struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, which led to all four of the siblings being sent to foster care.

The Biles siblings were frequently visited by their grandparents, Ronald and Nellie Biles, before they adopted Simone and her younger sister Adria in 2003, the same year the seven-time Olympic champion started doing gymnastics. The other two siblings were adopted by their great-aunt.

Simone confessed to having a tough time in foster care and in an op-ed for CNN in Feb. 2018, she wrote even her ordeals were looked over.

"Although I was young when my foster care ordeal began, I remember how it felt to be passed off and over-looked. Like nobody knew me or wanted to know me. Like my talents didn’t count, and my voice didn’t matter," she wrote

However, the Biles siblings suffered even more before their time in the foster. Speaking in the Facebook Watch series Simone vs Herself, the 27-year-old revealed they didn't have any food to eat when they were living with her biological mother.

"Growing up, me and my siblings were so focused on food because we didn’t have a lot of food. I remember there was this cat around the house and I would be so hungry. They would feed this cat and I would be like, ‘Where the heck is my food?’ And so I think that’s [why] I don’t like cats … because this freaking street cat, she always fed it. But she never fed us," Simone Biles said (as quoted by Guardian).

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"My parents saved me" — Simone Biles grateful to grandparents for giving her a second shot at life

Los Angeles Premiere Of Netflix's "Simone Biles Rising: Part"2"—Simone Biles in attendance with her family (Source: Getty)

Despite the hardships in foster care and before, Simone Biles has remained grateful for life and believes that the tough phase only set her up for a better life.

"Being separated from my biological mom, being placed in foster care before I officially got adopted by my grandparents, it just set me up for a better route at life," the gymnast said on an episode of her Facebook Watch series, Simone Vs. Herself (as quoted by People)

Biles started gymnastics the same year she was adopted by her grandparents, who supported her, and she has never looked back since.

"My parents saved me. They've set huge examples of how to treat other people and they've been there to support me since day one. There's nothing I could say to them to thank them enough," she said on Dancing with the Stars in 2017

The American gymnast has earned a staggering seven Olympic and 23 world titles and is the most decorated gymnast in the history of the sport.