Singer Olly Murs left his fans in tears after appearing on the "saddest ever" episode of BBC ancestry show Who Do You Think You Are?
The 40-year-old hitmaker is one of the celebrities appearing on the show to learn more about his family's past in a bid to help his dad Peter find out what happened to one of his relatives. The Troublemaker singer revealed his family hails from Latvia, so he wanted to find out what happened to his grandad Eddie, and how he managed to escape to England.
While exploring his grandfather's Latvian roots on the show, Olly discovered his great-grandparents were circus performers - and learnt more about a wartime decision that led to a tragic family estrangement. As part of the show, Olly travelled to the Salamonska Circus building in Riga in a bid to trace his great-grandmother Veronika Jankovska.
READ MORE: Olly Murs shares family pain as he uncovers tragic truth about great-grandmother
During the visit, he discovered that his great-grandfather Eduards Murs had cheated on his wife Katrine with Veronika, who was 22 at the time. She gave birth to a son, Eduards Jr, the singer's grandfather, also known as Eddie, but struggled to raise him and handed him over to her parents so she could work at the circus.
However, when Nazi Germany took over Latvia, Eddie fled as a refugee with his father and Katrine, while Veronika stayed in Latvia. Olly learnt that the last time Eddie saw his mother was when he was 12. During the tearjerking episode, Olly also found out that Veronika was imprisoned in a Soviet work camp and passed away in 1988.
Olly discovered that she had been unable to find out if her son was alive and spent decades looking for her long-lost son Eddie. In the show, Olly could be seen visiting the plot where Veronika was buried in an unmarked grave, as he paid his respects to her.
The emotional journey brought Olly closer to his dad and he said he was able to "unlock some doors" by doing the show, which helped bring his great-grandmother's story to light. "Through learning about this, we definitely connected on a different level, and I'd never had that feeling between us before," Olly shared.
During his episode, the singer revealed that his dad Peter wanted to visit his grandmother's grave, and the father-son duo were left in tears as they were taken to her final resting place. "It was quite emotional to see dad cry and get upset - I've never seen my dad cry, actually. I think seeing him emotional felt like I'd done something really special for him and the family, to find some peace for him - to feel connected to Latvia," Olly explained.
Fans of the singer were emotional after watching the episode as one wrote on X, formerly called Twitter: "There's been some cracking episodes of Who Do You Think You Are? over the years but Olly Murs' is one of the absolute best. An unexpectedly emotional watch."
Another added: "I wasn't expecting to be so invested and moved by tonight's Who Do You Think You Are. Featuring cheeky chappy, Olly Murs. Really worth catching up with it on the iPlayer." One more person tweeted: "Olly I'm CRYING. I know your grandad will be with his mam up in heaven right now. They may have not found each other here, but I know they're together up there now, looking down on you all, especially you and Amelia and little Madi, and they're so proud."
This year's cast of Who Do You Think You Are? features celebrities including Mel C, Gemma Collins, Vicky McClure and Paddy McGuinness.
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