IT’S long been known as a tear-jerker TV show as celebrities uncover the secrets of their family history on journeys across the globe.
But it was a particularly emotional time for Olly Murs as he headed on Who Do You Think You Are? to settle unanswered questions for his dad, Peter, about their family roots in Latvia.
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While the Dance With Me singer had previously been approached to take part in the BBC One show, which airs its current series on Thursdays at 9pm, now felt like the right time to dig deeper into the life of his grandad Eddie.
And the “heartbreaking” episode, which details his grandfather’s escape from Soviet occupied Latvia, has brought Olly and his family closer than ever before.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Olly said: “Dad and I have never connected like this before – we love our football, we love our music, but he’s a bit of a geezer, like me.
“Through learning about this, we definitely connected on a different level, and I’d never had that feeling between us before.
“I was able to unlock some doors that my dad had been refused before and wasn’t able to unlock.”
In the show, Olly discovers that his grandad Eddie was born through an affair and, when the Soviet Union took over Latvia – was taken to England via Germany by his father for a better life.
Eddie settled just a few miles away from Olly’s current home in Essex, where his entire family still live despite their Baltic roots.
His great-grandmother was left behind in Latvia alone – later imprisoned in a Soviet work camp and, after decades of looking for her long-lost son, passed away in 1988.
Visiting her grave in the episode, Olly is quick to call his dad and reveal the news of how her tragic story came to an end, leaving Peter in tears and Olly holding back his emotions.
He tells the cameras: “One of the biggest things my dad asked of me was that he wanted to know where she was buried, so that was a really special moment for me, to give him some answers.
“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.”
It’s not all tears for the singer and his family, however.
While Olly rose to worldwide fame as the cheeky chappy from Essex with a passion to entertain the masses with his singing, he also discovers in the show that his talent isn’t just rooted in his countryside home town.
Instead, it’s come all the way from his great-grandparents, who were part of a band of circus performers from Latvia – who he admits were far more daring on stage than he could ever be.
His great-grandfather took to the mic with his guitar in hand in much more daring feats on stages across Europe in the 1920s and 30s, by balancing on stilts on the shoulders of his wife.
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While his great-grandmother, then an unmarried woman in her 20s, was a trapeze artist who continued to perform as part of the circus up until her fifth month of pregnancy.
Olly joked: “I only sing and dance on stage, this was another level.
“I’ve done some amazing shows in my career but, that? Imagine if I turned up at the O2 and did that. I don’t know if I’ve got that in my locker.
“But there was me thinking I was the only Murs that performed. Maybe I need to rethink my stage name?”
Though, he now at least understand where his need to perform comes from.
He concluded: “It’s always been something I’ve questioned about myself, how can I have this job when no one else in my family does? They’re scared of doing it, whereas I have no fear of getting up on a stage and singing. But it’s in my blood.
“It helped me understand myself even more, because performing has always been in the family.”
- Who Do You Think Are? airs Thursday at 9pm on BBC One.