Eight of Australia’s biggest celebrities, media personalities and entertainment stars have put themselves – and their family heritages – in the spotlight for the 14th season season of Who Do You Think You Are?
Since its inception on SBS in 2008, the show has traced the genealogies of a total of 96 high profile Australians, uncovering some emotional, heart-wrenching and delightful moments along the way.
“Prepare to be delighted by Barry Humphries’ quest to prove he’s the most interesting person in his family … and moved as Derryn Hinch finally uncovers the long-suppressed identity of his mother’s father,” says Bernadine Lim, SBS’s commissioning editor for documentaries.
‘We don’t know where Barry came from’
Iconic comedian, satirist and author Barry Humphries, 89, best known for writing and playing his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, features in episode one.
He investigates a royal scandal in his father’s ancestry [his grandfather emigrated to Australia from the UK] and unravels the great mystery of his maternal family history, according to SBS.
“My mother used to say, in mixed company, ‘We don’t know where Barry came from’… Well, I began to think, where did I come from?,” he says, having been raised in Melbourne’s suburban Camberwell before embarking on a life of satire and humour.
Confident he’s the most interesting person in his family tree, Humphries is on a quest to be proven wrong.
Entertainer and show business veteran Rhonda Burchmore, 62, also headlines the new series, and discovers the truth about the maternal grandfather she never knew.
On her father’s side, she uncovers the story of an entrepreneur who left an amazing legacy to the people of Sydney.
“It’s like the most wonderful gift – and an unexpected gift, finding out so much more about the history of your family,” she says.
Commentator, “human headline” and former Senator Derryn Hinch, 79, described his experience as a rollercoaster.
“It has been taxing, but it’s been wonderfully taxing. It’s torn at the heartstrings. And I’ve discovered things that have been quite a revelation,” he said.
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‘It’s about family’
Comedian Peter Helliar, 47, most recently a regular on Ten’s The Project before resigning late last year, has settled into the African jungle for this year’s instalment of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!
Before he left, the passionate Australian Rules Football supporter was sure to find out more about where he came from.
During the digging, SBS says they uncovered a story of a maternal ancestor deeply traumatised by his experience during World War 1 at Gallipoli.
On his father’s side, there’s some Irish heritage and a “thrilling” link to an AFL pioneer.
“I really love AFL. It’s my happy place and I often thank my dad for passing that onto me. My whole family are Collingwood. We literally go to the football every week, and we love it.
Footy to me means many things, but if I was really to get to the heart of it, it’s about family”.
Journalist Jenny Brockie discovers some surprising secrets hidden in her mother’s family tree, and goes on an emotional journey to solve the mystery of her father’s ancestry.
“The irony of my profession is not lost on me in this situation, and I don’t think it’s coincidence at all. It (my profession) was probably also a way of avoiding my own story,” she says.
World-renowned choreographer and artistic director Stephen Page has long been curious about mother Doreen’s ancestry.
Born to a white father, Doreen suppressed her indigenous identity to survive racism in 1950s Australia. He takes part in an emotional and unexpected journey, making a series of surprising and moving revelations along the way.
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The last two episodes uncover the stories behind film, television, and stage actor Kerry Armstrong, 64, and actor and musician John Waters.
Armstrong was faced with a deeply moving personal loss while Waters explores his family’s history, embracing working class radicals in his father’s family and discovering a maternal ancestor at the heart of colonial Caribbean history.
“One of the disappointing things about the family tree done by my uncle
that I had researched is that it was a fairly misogynistic thing, and only followed the male line backwards, and women just pop in, have children, and then disappear again.
“I’m interested in all the women that form an equal part of who I am, about whom just a name has been written on a piece of paper before now,” he says.
All eight celebrities travelled across the world in a “journey that leads them back home, and to a better understanding of themselves”, says SBS.
Who Do You Think You Are? premieres May 2 at 7.30pm on SBS and SBS On Demand
