British genealogy documentary series, Who Do You Think You Are? has been going since 2004, but it is not even close to running out of celebrities who want to know more about their roots.
Next up in an episode airing on Tuesday 12th October, is The Last Leg star, Josh Widdicombe and he was surprised when he got the news of where his family can be traced back to – and it turns out he descends from royalty!
“I’m not a royalist so it was kind of quite weird,” Josh said on the discovery. “It’s not like I feel deeply proud of this fact, it’s just that it feels very surreal. The fact of the matter, it’s just completely surreal and it feels like what happened? Do you know what I mean? I mean, how has it gone from that, to me. But it also makes you much more interested in those periods in history. It’s fascinating, it makes you go, “I should learn about this”.
Josh admitted that were it not for the show, he would never have known his royal roots, saying: “I’m interested in history, and I’m interested in all that kind of stuff. I don’t think it’s something I would have done myself because of time constraints and the feeling that I wouldn’t even know where to start. So it’s been amazing, it’s such a gift to get to have people do that for you, and then present you with the most exciting bits, it’s such an honour in a way.”
But while he does enjoy history, Josh admits that he was concerned that he may not know enough to talk about some of the things he discovered. “I was worried about exposing my lack of history knowledge and that I’d be supposed to understand the historical references. So they’d mention historical figures and the English Civil War. To really know the implications of this, I need to know what happened in the English Civil War. So mainly I was afraid of exposing my lack of knowledge.”
But will we see Josh wearing a crown from now on? Not according to the man himself. “I wouldn’t say it’s changed how I see myself, no. It would be mad if I started living a more royal life. I think maybe if you’ve learned that you came from a tougher background, it might give you some perspective, but this doesn’t really call for perspective at all.”
Josh Widdicombe’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? airs on Tuesday 12th October on BBC One. Want something else to watch? Check out our full TV Guide or visit our Entertainment hub for the latest news.