Gemma Collins has delved deeper into her family history, appearing on the hit BBC show, Who Do You Think You Are? which sees celebrities tracing their family tree, often travelling to different areas and other countries to follow in their ancestors’ footsteps.
From being ‘convinced she has a link with Jack The Ripper,’ to discovering the perfect baby name, the 43-year-old TOWIE star went through an emotional rollercoaster. One key part of her family history is her mother Joan’s story, who was sadly abandoned at the hospital as a baby. “Why was she left at the hospital? Why did they never come back for her?” Gemma questioned on the show, before revealing her mother ‘never talks about it’.
“I just think it’s too painful for her to go there,” the star continued. “It will be so nice to know where my mum’s from, and just put all the pieces together.”
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Gemma’s mother Joan, who has previously appeared on the ITVBe reality show with her daughter, was brought up by a foster family since she was two weeks old. Opening up to Gemma for the first time, Joan recalled her birth mother coming to visit her when she was four years old, bringing her sweets and playing her a Rolling Stones record.
“Her mum was in and out of her life,” Gemma says. “How confusing must that have been for my mum?”
In May this year, Gemma took to social media to inform fans that her mother had been rushed to hospital, and was being looked after in intensive care, telling followers she was “really ill at the minute.”
“It’s been a hell of a time and you know, I’m really happy, and well not that happy, because my mum’s in intensive care, but she is on the mend, thank god,” the star continued.
Three months later, in August, Gemma made an emotional appeal for her mum Joan to “hurry home” as she stayed in hospital after what turned out to be more than a routine check-up.
During the ordeal, Gemma took to Instagram to post a touching message to her mother, accompanied by a picture of her family by the pool. In the snap, Gemma wore a sleek black swimsuit while lounging on a white float, with her mum Joan comfortably dipping her hands in the water, clinging to the inflatable. Penning her thoughts alongside the snap, she wrote: “No day is to be taken for granted. Mum went for a check up and was kept in hospital last night. This year has been one thing after another.”