Ross Kemp cries as he learns truth about what happened to missing family member
EastEnders actor Ross Kemp, known for his role as Grant Mitchel, got emotional as he learned about what really happened to a family member he assumed went missing at sea
Ross Kemp tears up as he learns truth about what happened to missing family member(Image: BBC)
Ross Kemp got emotional as he learned about what really happened to a family member he assumed went missing at sea. On Tuesday’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, where stars learned more about their family tree, Ross was seen tearing up as he was told about his family history.
The actor, known for his role as Grant Mitchell in EastEnders, took part in the programme to find out more about his mother’s side of the family, including his great-grandfather, who was known in the family as Pop. His great-grandfather, who had 10 other siblings, lived in a pub in Portsmouth as a child.
Ross wiped away tears as he learned about his family history(Image: BBC)
Ross discussed a story his mother once told him, revealing her dad turned up at the door wearing a US uniform and everyone thought he was shipwrecked in the southern China sea.
The voice over in the programme explained: “On 11 July 1943 Pops troop ship the Duchess of York and her convoy were over 300 miles off the Portuguese coast when three German air force planes took off from France and headed towards them.”
Historian Sarah Louise Miller sat down with Ross to reveal the ship was actually hit twice, with its engines put out of order before it was caught on fire.
Ross Kemp with his parents John and Jean and brother Darren(Image: PR)
While explaining what happened, Ross wiped away tears from his eyes as she said the crew still weren’t safe despite being off the ship. He said: “Sorry, I’m getting emotional.’
She responded: “It would have been a very scary situation,” before Ross questioned whether he survived. The historian told him: “He did survive.”
The voice over went on to announced: “89 lives were lost from the Duchess of York that night. And the next day, her destroyed hulk was sunk to the bottom of the sea. Now in one of the escort vessels who rescued him… Pop was still a target.
“He and the other survivors had little choice but to risk a 700-mile sea voyage to Casablanca, the largest nearby port under Allied control.”
Upon learning the truth, Ross said: “I know it sounds like I’m smiling about the was shipwrecked, but I was questioning if that actually ever happened! It’s very odd.
“I make lots of documentaries around the whole about a lot of stuff but when it’s about you or your family, it has a very different impact. It really does. Oh Pop, what a life he had.”
Ross also explained: “It’s such a complex feeling to think about somebody who I was told about all my life by my grandmother, and by my mother, had been this kind of interesting, traveler and there are similarities that I’m drawing from understanding him that I see in myself.
“His life was all about him doing what he warned to do most of the time. So I’m finding out basically from my great grandfather, a lot about me.”
