How would you feel if there was a rotten apple among your ancestors?
This week, politician and former Strictly star Ed Balls appears on BBC ‘s Who Do You Think You Are? only to discover his three-times great-grandad appears to have been a sex pest.
The former shadow chancellor finds out that surgeon William Dunbar was accused of kissing a teenage girl.
The Labour man says: “If you’re a man in your late 40s, with a load of kids, you don’t kiss 16-year-olds.”
But he’s not the only famous face who has a forebear with dark secrets, as Daily Star reveals…
Ben Affleck
(Image: Getty Images)
What: Slave owner
The Hollywood actor found himself in hot water after asking producers of the US TV show Finding Your Roots not to include details of his slave owning ancestor.
He later admitted: “I didn’t want any television show about my family to include a guy who owned slaves. I was embarrassed.”
Ben later apologised, saying: “I regret my initial thoughts that the issue of slavery not be included in the story. We deserve neither credit nor blame for our ancestors and the degree of interest in this story suggests that we are, as a nation, still grappling with the terrible legacy of slavery.”
Emma Willis
(Image: BBC/Wall to Wall/Stephen Perry)
What: Torturer
The ex-Big Brother host went on Who Do You Think You Are? to learn that her five-times grandfather Richard Fowler had been involved in kidnapping, stabbing and torturing a blacksmith and his son in Ireland during the 18th century.
Emma, who is married to Busted star Matt Willis, admitted: “That was exactly what I didn’t want to find out.”
Joe Lycett
(Image: BBC/Wall to Wall Media Ltd/Stephen Perry)
What: Stabbing Seaman
The Great British Sewing Bee host heard on the show that in the 1800s, his great-great-grandfather Robert Wilkins, a Royal Marine, had stabbed a sailor in the stomach with a bayonet, but was spared hanging because he was found to be insane.
Joe also learned that Robert likely destroyed villages and homes, as he patrolled the South China sea in the second Opium War.
Lesley Garrett
(Image: SUNDAY MAIL)
What: Wife killer
On Who Do You Think You Are? the singer uncovered that her great-great granddad Charlie Garrett, a local councillor in Thorne, South Yorkshire had killed his wife by replacing her usual medication with carbolic acid.
While the death was officially ruled an accident, his son Tom and daughter in law Mary believed that he was guilty and cut off contact with him.
Jamie Redknapp
(Image: ITV)
What: Thief
The ex-England footballer and pundit went on TV’s DNA Journey to hear that his second cousin six times removed, William Redknapp, was a crooked customs officer in the 19th century who pinched £15,000 from the Bank of England, equivalent to £2.5million today.
Redknapp said after learning the news: “William, that’s my son’s middle name, I might have to change that.”
Patsy Kensit
(Image: Getty Images)
What: Fraudster
The Holby City star knew her dad James “Jimmy The Dip” was an associate of notorious gangsters The Krays, but on Who Do You Think You Are? she unearthed the extent of his criminal past including involvement in fraud and also found that her grandfather was a robber and counterfeiter.
Patsy had been so upset that she walked out of filming and had to be talked into returning to the show.
Cynthia Nixon
(Image: Getty Images North America)
What: Axe Murderer
On the US version of Who Do You Think You Are? the Sex and the City star discovered that her great-great-great grandmother Martha Curnett killed her husband Noah while he was sleeping in Missouri in the 1840s with an axe.
However, Cynthia learned that she’d endured cruel abuse from him and was released from prison after two years.
Robert Pattinson
(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
What: Cruel ruler
Researchers for the website ancestry.co.uk discovered that the star, who played a teenage vampire in the Twilight series, is related to notorious Vlad the Impaler, a 15th century Romanian ruler who execute enemies with wooden spikes and helped inspire Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Who Do You Think You Are? is on BBC1 on Tuesday at 9pm.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
