Gransnet forums

Genealogy/memories

Who Do You Think You Are 2025?

(17 Posts)
ixion Sat 19-Apr-25 19:33:23

I don't know if anyone here follows this series but the WDYTYA magazine outlines the 8 next participants.
Series starts Tuesday 22nd April.

Off to Google where appropriate!

Who are the Who Do You Think You Are? 2025 celebrities?
The celebrities due to discover their family history in Who Do You Think You Are? 2025 are:

Oscar-nominated actor Andrew Garfield
Platinum selling pop star Will Young
EastEnders actor and documentary presenter Ross Kemp
Actor and comedian Diane Morgan
Today programme presenter Mishal Husain
Actor and comedian Aisling Bea
First Dates maître d' Fred Sirieix
Actor and Strictly Come Dancing contestant Layton Williams

escaped Sat 19-Apr-25 19:42:38

Thank you. I think WDYTYA is an interesting watch because it includes people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. What their current occupation is isn't actually the main focus for me. I've heard of most of them, two of them my DGodD has worked with, (musical theatre and film).

Casdon Sat 19-Apr-25 19:57:02

I like this, the historical background sections where they put the ancestors’ lives into context are always so interesting I think. I know of most of the people, and I’m looking forward to Fred Siriex because somehow he looks like somebody who will have an interesting family background, although I don’t know why.

escaped Sat 19-Apr-25 20:09:17

Have you read this, Casdon? It's seriously entertaining and interesting.

Casdon Sat 19-Apr-25 21:34:55

No, but thanks, I will borrow that from the library!

keepingquiet Sat 19-Apr-25 21:41:15

Thanks for this info. I found the last series a little lacklustre but you never know what's going to pop up! I am a fan of Diane Morgan so look forward to that.

Lizbethann55 Sat 19-Apr-25 23:13:40

My son is an actor, though by no means even remotely famous. I keep asking him to get famous just so he can be "done" on Wdytya as my dad's side of the family is very confusing and I would love for my son to know more about the grandad who died many years ago.

Silverbrooks Fri 25-Apr-25 10:53:54

Off to a good start with actor Andrew Garfield investigating his Polish ancestry.

A story of two halves. The people of Kielce who did not escape the Nazis and those who did including those who had already left Poland to escape the pogroms.

The Hollywood connections to Władysław Szpilman (The Pianist); Bernard Taper (The Monuments Men) the US army intelligence unit who worked to recover art looted by the Nazis; and Harry (Kupcyk) Cooper, tailor to movie stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner and Elizabeth Taylor, was extraordinary.

More on Bernard Taper here:

www.monumentsmenandwomenfnd.org/monuments-men-and-women/bernard-taper?srsltid=AfmBOoqERaz65UmygRm70lz08SIQuEKUv3l10jTQKclD1ghHhtPVTwcQ

Whitewavemark2 Fri 25-Apr-25 13:58:31

Andrew Garfield is the absolute image of my GS, who has a similar speaking style etc.

So of course I had to watch him.

Good wasn’t it😊

Silverbrooks Fri 25-Apr-25 14:32:08

It was.

I think that Andrew Garfield, Aidan Turner (Poldark) and Kelly Jones from The Stereophonics look very alike.

Mishal Husain next week.

TerriBull Fri 25-Apr-25 14:43:06

I like Andrew Garfield as an actor, also he grew up in my home town, being Anglo American his accent is prone to float about a bit. His family story was very moving, The christian Polish were hateful towards their Jewish population. That came across in Hadley Freeman's book of her family history, The House of Glass, they couldn't get out of Poland fast enough.

Silverbrooks Fri 25-Apr-25 15:00:25

Thank you TerriBull. Another title to add to the bookpile (or three - see The Guardian review of Freeman's book ... the pantheon of family stories that connect the grandchild to the generation of the grandparents.

www.theguardian.com/books/2020/feb/29/house-of-glass-story-20th-century-jewish-family-hadley-freeman-review

From reading that, I can see the parallels with Garfield's story.

BlueBelle Fri 25-Apr-25 15:06:44

Only heard of three Will young Ross kemp and Fred
The rest I ve no idea who they are may have interesting stories though

Allira Fri 25-Apr-25 15:11:30

Lizbethann55

My son is an actor, though by no means even remotely famous. I keep asking him to get famous just so he can be "done" on Wdytya as my dad's side of the family is very confusing and I would love for my son to know more about the grandad who died many years ago.

We have a famous actor in the family, some of whose family history was researched for WDYTYA but he must have declined to appear. I didn't actually know about him until I started researching ours but then found the link and it was extremely useful and we have linked up with family we never knew about.

Allira Fri 25-Apr-25 15:13:47

Oscar-nominated actor Andrew Garfield

I'm ashamed to admit I've never heard of him!

BlueBelle Fri 25-Apr-25 15:27:48

Don’t worry Allira I haven’t either 😀

Allira Fri 25-Apr-25 15:36:02

Well, I thought he was an ex-President of the USA but he was James and was assassinated in 1881. So not him.