Gemma Collins has uncovered a family link to Jack The Ripper.
‘The Only Way Is Essex’ star discovered the connection while taking part in BBC ancestry series ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ as experts revealed her great-great-great grandfather, William Williams, lived on Dorset Street in East London with his wife and three children – the same street where Ripper victim Annie Chapman lived prior to her murder 1888 and where the body of Mary Jane Kelly was found two months later.
Gemma – whose family were recorded as living there in 1900 – told the BBC: “No-one knows who the ripper was, but we lived next door to where a lot of his victims were being killed. You just don’t know,.
“I think I was related to him … It’s just bizarre, isn’t it? Could it be my family? Could he be alluded to be my family?”
During filming, Gemma also discovered more about her mother Joan’s family history – overturning the previous belief that she had been abandoned by her mum as a child with experts suggesting it was more likely Joan was taken away from her mother by the authorities.
Gemma, 43, said: “It was very overwhelming, very, very bizarre, to find out all this stuff we’ve not known for so long. It’s bittersweet and amazing.
“It’s been very cathartic putting my mum’s mind at rest about so much stuff that was unanswered for her.”
It comes after Gemma revealed she has been busy with TV work and had to turn down an offer to appear on ‘The Traitors US because she had another commitment.
She was quoted by the Daily Star newspaper’s Hot TV column as saying: “I got asked to do ‘The Traitors’ last series. But I couldn’t do it because I was working on something else.
“When it comes to TV shows, if they ring me and they say, ‘Do you want to do this?’ then I’ll either say yes or no. Whatever the universe is going to bring me … it’s all good.”