Summary
Overview
Zoe Ball and Joe Wiley discuss Zoe's emotional appearance on 'Who Do You Think You Are?', where she discovered her Scottish roots and learned about her grandmother Peg's mental health struggles. The hosts also tackle listener questions about wedding gifts, embarrassing parental moments, and family history discoveries, while sharing personal stories about their own families and entertaining listener rants about household bins.
Zoe's Who Do You Think You Are? Journey
Zoe shares her profound experience filming 'Who Do You Think You Are?' after her mother's death, discovering her family's Scottish McMenemie roots and learning about ancestors who were coal miners and mill workers. The most emotional moment came when she saw her mother's signature on her grandmother Peg's death certificate, revealing Peg's lifelong struggle with what would today be diagnosed as bipolar disorder. The entire crew was moved to tears by the story, and Zoe has since been contacted by distant relatives who discovered their connection to her family.
- Zoe was originally scheduled to film the show when her mum was alive, but postponed after her mother became ill
- The Ball family originally came from the McMenemies in Scotland, with roots as coal miners in Glasgow who moved to Bolton for work
- Her great-great-great-grandfather James Temby was an illegitimate child whose mother was imprisoned in Bodmin Jail
- Grandmother Peg suffered from what would today be called bipolar disorder and spent time in institutions, but treatment allowed her to return to her family between episodes
- Many families have contacted Zoe saying they had relatives with similar mental health treatment experiences
" They brought out this document, which was when she, it was her death certificate, and then I saw my mum's signature on the death certificate, and I broke down and had such a sob. "
" After we finished filming, I looked up and all the crew had been crying, because it was such a moving story. "
Joe's Family History Discovery
Joe recounts how her daughter Coco researched their family history and discovered that Joe's father had a living sister he'd never known about. The family undertook an emotional journey to meet Aunt Sue, hoping for closure about why Joe's father was abandoned at age three. While the meeting provided some answers about their troubled mother, it didn't lead to the fairytale reunion Joe had hoped for, highlighting that family reconnections don't always work out as expected.
- Joe's father was abandoned at age three by his mother and raised by his father, who died young, then by a family friend
- Coco discovered Joe's father had a living sister, Aunt Sue, who lived nearby
- The sister was able to answer painful questions about why their mother had left, explaining she was troubled and not maternal with either child
- The reunion helped Joe's father accept the past but came too late in his life to form a meaningful new relationship
- Joe learned there's a genetic fault in the family, and knowing more family medical history would have been valuable
" I was thinking oh it's going to be like long lost family with Nicky Campbell and Davina and there's gonna be loads of tears and it'll be really moving and we'll all have this lovely life together afterwards and that hasn't happened. "
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