My incredible FAMILY

PADDY MCGUINNESS on finding defiance, courage and wartime endeavour in his ancestry

- CAREN CLARK

Paddy McGuinness confesses that he knew next to nothing about his roots when he was invited to investigate his family tree for this week’s Who Do You Think You Are? on BBC1. But, due to his name, he was sure he would uncover Irish forebears.

‘I don’t know if they’ve had anyone on the show who knows as little about their family as me – I couldn’t tell you some of my grandparents’ names. We just never spoke about anything. I’d have put a hefty bet on there being an Irish connection somewhere, though.’

The Bolton-born presenter, who turns 51 on 14 August, adds: ‘My mum [Patricia] and my dad [Patrick, known as Joe] have both passed away, and that makes it more difficult finding out anything. So I was excited to know who my family were, where they were from and what they did.’

WAR EFFORT

The star began his search by looking into his maternal relatives and the life of his grandfather James Leonard. He learnt that James grew up in poverty in Bolton and that his labourer father Patrick was sent to prison in 1915 for assaulting James’ mother Annie, who then spent time in a workhouse, while James was placed in a ‘cottage home’, which kept children separate from adult workhouse inmates.

‘That was horrendous. For James, being taken away must have been a negative experience,’ shares Paddy, who made his name starring in his pal Peter Kay’s comedy Phoenix Nights before hosting the likes of Take Me Out, Top Gear, Question of Sport and I Can See Your Voice.

‘Patrick went off to prison, quite rightly, and Annie was left traumatised. But then later, she took Patrick back because divorce was frowned upon.’