Top 20 Shocking Reveals on Who Do You Think You Are

Top 20 Shocking Reveals On Who Do You Think You Are?

Welcome to WatchMojoUK, and today we’re counting down 20 of the most shocking and surprising revelations on “Who Do You Think You Are?”

#20: Lesley Garrett & the Possible Poisoning

Perhaps more shocking than the story itself was singer Lesley Garrett’s overjoyed reaction to the fact her great-great-grandmother died after ingesting carbolic acid. Contemporary news reports and the death certificate said that the carbolic acid, which was a commonly used disinfectant, was administered accidentally to Mary Ann Garrett. Though she only had a tablespoon of it and a doctor was sent for immediately, she died in a matter of minutes. Garrett talks to a pathologist who says that a tablespoon was more than enough, and that many people actually died the same way back when the substance was regularly kept in houses. Garrett still suspected that her great-grandad Charlie might have done it on purpose.

#19: Kate Winslet’s Imprisoned Relative

She headed to Sweden to learn about her ancestry on her mother’s side, and her great-great-great-grandfather Anders Jonsson. But she found out not only that one of his children died young, but that in 1832, he was arrested, along with another man, for stealing barrels of potatoes. She then finds out that he was sent to prison for this, and that he sadly died in prison in a nearby castle. She goes to the castle to talk to another historian about what happened, finding out that he’d stolen other things, too, including some beehives full of honey. He was sentenced to be whipped, but died when he contracted typhus before the sentence was carried out.

#18: Nigella Lawson’s Vanished Family

It’s no secret that Nigella Lawson, whose father was a peer in the House of Lords and whose mother was a restaurant heiress, came from money. But that isn’t the entire story, as she learnt when she investigated her roots. She found that she had Dutch ancestry and a lot of Jewish ancestry, but also that her great-great-grandfather Barnett Salmon grew up in poverty. In the 1840s, Salmon and his siblings lived in a tiny house in Spitalfields, London, where multiple children died of diseases related to malnutrition and unsanitary living. She found this out after two of the children disappeared from records and she went searching for their death certificates to put the pieces together.

#17: Graham Norton’s Shotgun Wedding

Norton grew up in the Republic of Ireland, but his mother was Northern Irish and had roots in Belfast. So, he headed across the border to learn about that side of the family, recalling childhood visits to Belfast during the Troubles as he went. He ran into trouble during the research, though, because his great-grandmother had recorded two different maiden names on different documents. He wanted to know why, coming to suspect that she was illegitimate, and that’s why she had no father listed on her marriage certificate. But most shocking was learning that she was already eight months pregnant when she walked down the aisle.

#16: Clare Balding’s Great-Grandfather

Even more aristocratic than Nigella is Clare Balding. It’s true that her lineage was even more well-known before appearing on the show and can eventually be traced back to Henry VII – disturbingly, through more than one close relative. But the show focused largely on investigating her great-grandfather, Sir Malcolm Bullock, to determine whether or not he was gay. Bullock was an MP between the 1920s and 1950s and there were always rumours that he was, but as Balding points out, at the time, it would have been a crime had he been discovered, and his career certainly would have ended, so it had to stay secret. 

#15: Greg Davies’ Illegitimate Ancestor

Though he grew up in Shropshire, Greg Davies’ parents were both Welsh and drove him across the border so that he wouldn’t be born in England. He found out that his great-grandmother hadn’t been married to his great-grandfather and their kids had been born out of wedlock. She eventually took him to court to try and get the child support payments he owed her, but he didn’t have any money. He kept investigating William Owen, who turned out to have trouble with drink. He was even arrested at one point for being drunk and in charge of a horse and cart, as well as once attempting to climb Mount Snowden in the middle of the night.

#14: Sarah Millican & the Pegasus Disaster

None of Millican’s relatives died in the Pegasus disaster in 1843, but one ancestor, James, did work for a shipping company that employed him and others to retrieve things from shipwrecks. This included the grisly work of bringing bodies to the surface, which families of the deceased would give rewards for. The details of the disaster were harrowing, but more shocking is that an event like this could be so widely forgotten, buried in nineteenth-century newspapers. She read through advertisements placed offering cash rewards for the recovery of loved ones’ remains in these disturbing scenes.

#13: David Tennant’s Orange Order Relatives

Though he believed nearly his entire family came from Scotland, Tennant went off to Northern Ireland to meet the relatives of his maternal great-grandfather after losing the trail for the Scottish side of the family. He was surprised to find out that his Northern Irish family weren’t only protestants, but that at least one of them had been an Orange Man, a member of the notorious Orange Order. His relatives actually gave him one of the orange sashes they had, which shocked and disturbed him. He found it hard to reconcile that his family could have belonged to the Orange Order, particularly during the Troubles.

#12: Sheridan Smith & the Alleged Arsonist

This one was full of twists and turns, as Sheridan Smith went to Sheffield to unearth her family history. She was looking for information about her great-great-grandfather, Benjamin Doubleday, who’d tried to make it as a musician playing the banjo - but she found out that he had a number of suspicious arsons in his history. A pub he owned actually burned down when the building was totally empty, leading investigators to suspect it was done for the insurance, charging him for it. But she kept digging and eventually learnt that he was found not guilty, so hopefully, that verdict was correct and he didn’t set the fire. 

#11: Stephen Fry’s Wartime History

An immense tragedy was uncovered when Stephen Fry traced his roots, wanting to learn more about his Jewish heritage. It was difficult to watch him find out that some of his closest relatives, including his great-aunt, perished in Auschwitz during the war after being sent there by the Nazis. His family didn’t initially know exactly what had happened to them, only that they had been taken to Auschwitz and never heard from again – but presumably had died. He had an old family photograph, and it was deeply heartbreaking putting faces to the names as he goes through the list of his cousins, most of whom died within the walls of the Nazis’ most notorious camps.

#10: Boris Johnson is Related to King George II

As an old Etonian and Oxbridge graduate, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise that Boris Johnson is posh enough to be related to royalty. But back in 2008, he was notable as one of the first celebs to find a king of England in his family tree. Turns out that Johnson is directly descended from King George II. (For those who don’t know their “Horrible Histories” songs, he was “the bad one.”) King George was a Hanoverian, so an ancestor of our current royal family. That means that Boris is distantly related to the Queen, the Swedish and Dutch royals and even the Romanovs.

#9: Mark Wright Didn’t Expect the Spanish Inquisition

“TOWIE” star, Mark Wright, has always believed that his blood was Italian. Turns out, that was a myth. The family was Spanish, hailing from Jaén in Andalusia. Mark discovered that their roots were also Jewish. The family had fled Spain to escape the Inquisition after one ancestor was burnt at the stake and another subjected to torture. The tortured man was named David Antonio. He managed to hold out long enough to convince his tormentors that he was not a practicing Jew and concocted a plan to escape the country with his family. On a lighter note, he was also a master swordsman, so Mark got to do some swashbuckling.

#8: Josh Widdicombe is Descended From Henry VIII (Possibly) 

Josh Widdicombe’s family history journey took him back to Mary Boleyn. She was his fourteen times great grandmother, sister to Anne Boleyn and mistress of Henry VIII. She’s also the main character in “The Other Boleyn Girl.” Many historians believe that Katherine Knollys, Mary’s daughter, was also Henry’s illegitimate child. Katherine is also Josh’s ancestor. As the comedian was very excited to discover, this means he could be a direct descendant of Henry VIII. However, even if this is fake news, Josh still has some royal blood. On the Boleyn side he can trace his ancestry back to King Edward I. So there’s a consolation prize.

#7: Jack Whitehall’s Unlikeable Ancestor

Comedian and actor Jack Whitehall has made a career out of being posh. That is to say, a lot of his comedy involves poking fun at himself and his background. Taking part in “Who Do You Think You Are?” with his dad, Michael, Jack hoped to find some ancestors who were a bit more relatable. What he got was Thomas Jones Phillips, a lawyer and - as Jack puts it - “a perennial snitch.” Jones Phillips played a part in opposing the Chartists, a political group who fought for working men to have the vote. During the Newport Rising, Jack’s ancestor tracked down their inspirational leader, John Frost, and turned him in for the reward. His four-time great grandson was not impressed.

#6: Patrick Stewart’s Father Suffered From Shell Shock

When Patrick Stewart agreed to take part in “Who Do You Think You Are?” he planned to find out about his father’s military service. Stewart’s childhood home had been marred by domestic violence, but his memories of his father were mixed. He remembered the violent man, but also the exciting war stories his father used to tell. In this deeply personal episode, Stewart wanted to explore and understand the conflicting sides of his father’s character. Over the course of the programme, the actor discovered that his father suffered from shellshock. We would now call it PTSD. This discovery gave the actor some new insight into a man who may have been different, had he never been to war. 

#5: Judi Dench’s Shakespeare Connection

Judi Dench is now a familiar face on the big screen, thanks to film roles in projects such as “Shakespeare in Love” and “Philomena.” But primarily, she’s a Shakespearian actress. Her first role at the Old Vic theater was playing Ophelia, in “Hamlet”. The play is set in Denmark, in the royal castle of Elsinore, where Ophelia lives with her father. While investigating her family history, Dame Judy was shocked to discover that she actually had an ancestor who lived in the real Danish castle. Even better, she turned out to be related to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who are actual characters in the play. It was an emotional discovery for the actress and a fascinating coincidence for the viewer.

#4: Alan Cummings’ Grandfather’s Real Cause of Death

Actor, Alan Cummings, investigated a family story that was a bit closer to home. His mother’s father, Tom, was killed while serving as a police officer in Malaysia. Supposedly, a gun that he was cleaning backfired. But when Alan spoke to an old service comrade, he uncovered a different story. His grandfather died from a gun wound to the back of the head. The story was, he had been playing Russian Roulette - apparently, he was a habitual player. It is suspected that his luck ran out or he got careless. Does this mean he did accidentally shoot himself? Or did someone find out he was cheating and have him killed? Either way, it wasn’t the story that his grandson expected to find.

#3: Matthew Pinsent, Related to…God?

There have been a few instances of royal ancestors cropping up on “Who Do You Think You Are?” but the reveal during Matthew Pinsent’s episode is one of the most bizarre.  The Olympic medalist traced his lineage back to the Plantagenet kings. He discovered that he was a direct descendant of Edward I. He was then shown an archaic scroll that follows the line of succession back even further. As the Medieval royals were keen to justify their claim to the divine right of kings, the scroll takes some unexpected turns. According to this particular document, Matthew is related to Jesus, King David, Adam and Eve and - right at the very top - God. As he says, that’s pretty much as far as you can go. 

#2: Ainsley Harriott’s Slave Owning Ancestors

Ainsley Harriott’s search took him to the Caribbean island of Jamaica, where his father grew up. Although he assumed that his ancestors had been brought to Jamaica as slaves, the TV chef was still in for an unpleasant shock.  He discovered that his his family name originally came from a white slave ower, his two-time great grandfather, James Gordon Harriott. Ainsley visited the estate where slaves and slave owners - both his distant relatives - once lived. “Good or bad, it’s part of my make-up.” he concluded. “The history of the Harriott family really encapsulates the history of the West Indies.”

#1: Danny Dyer’s Royal Pedigree

Will there ever be an episode like this one? Professional Cockney geezer, Danny Dyer, didn’t expect to find any money in his family tree. At the beginning of his journey, we didn’t either. Tragic tales of poverty and the workhouse began the story, but then something remarkable happened. He hit an aristocratic line. After the first breakthrough they just keep coming. He learnt about Thomas Cromwell, advisor to Henry VIII and his fifteen times great grandfather. He then followed the Seymour line (Cromwell married his son into nobility) and discovered he was directly descended from the Plantagenet kings. Among his other direct ancestors, he can count Eleanor of Aquitaine, William the Conqueror and King Louis IX, who was even canonized as a saint.

Let us know in the comments if you’ve ever researched your ancestry in depth.