Line of Duty stars Adrian Dubar and Neil Morrissey have been firm friends since they were 18, long before the hit BBC One crime drama catapulted them into fame. Now the pair have appeared on ITV1's DNA Journey and one of them, to their surprise, met family they never knew existed.
Neil grew up in care from the age of 10, after his parents were unable to look after him, and never knew a lot about his family. He did not know his grandparents or where he was from and a DNA test in the show revealed he was 1% Scottish and 99% Irish.
While visiting Ireland with Adrian in the show, Neil was shocked to discover he has a lot of cousins and family in Dublin. He even met Marilyn who is his cousin from his father's side of the family.
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Marilyn explained that Neil's father Larry, moved in with her great-grandmother Kitty when Larry was young after his father died. In moving scenes Neil was shown photos of his family, he said: "See, I wouldn't have a clue about anyone on my dad's side looked like, wow, I mean that is absolutely fascinating." and became choked up while looking at the photos.
The TV star learned that his dad was sporty and lived with Kitty's great-grandmother and grandfather until the age of 17. Marilyn explained that she was similar to Neil as she was very arty, currently working in interior design and formally a dancer. She said: "Our common ground is the arts. I'm very arty...arts is definitely in the blood".
Neil also met Marilyn's daughter who performed an Irish dance for Neil, with Marilyn playing the fiddle to show Neil his Irish roots. You can keep up to date with the latest TV and showbiz news by signing up to the newsletter here.
DNA Journey will air on ITV1 at 9pm on Tuesday, March 21.
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