10 Celebs Who Were REJECTED By 'Who Do You Think You Are'

Ever wondered why some celebrities never appear on "Who Do You Think You Are?" Join us as we reveal the stars whose family histories were deemed too dull for TV. From beloved actors to popular presenters, these celebs faced rejection from the genealogy show. Discover why their ancestors didn't make the cut and the surprising reasons behind some of these decisions.

Check out these other brilliantly British videos from WMUK:

Check Out ""Who Do You Think You Are?"" Here!

Subscribe for more Brilliantly British Content:

Challenge friends and family on our multiplayer Trivia!

Have Your Idea Become A Video!

WatchMojoUK is your source for British Top 10s, covering popular shows like Doctor Who, Strictly Come Dancing, Great British Bake Off, Coronation Street, This Morning, Good Morning Britain, The Graham Norton Show, Sherlock, and more! We also cover the latest in British Movies, Music and Pop Culture - We Top 10 it all!

#WhoDoYouThinkYouAre #WDYTYA #BBC #genealogy #celebrity

[WatchMojoUK]

Which celebrity would you love to learn about on "Who Do You Think You Are"?

Top 10 Heartbreaking Who Do You Think You Are Revelations

[ReecyM]

I love this show. I'm a amateur family historian, and was delighted to discover that Alex Scott and I have the same great great grandmother! It was amazing to learn more about my family history through her journey

[ludovica]

I notice that several of the rejects have Irish backgrounds. I know WDYTYA have done many Irish based episodes but it is worth remembering that a LOT of Irish records were destroyed in the Easter Rising and perhaps the records they need for certain individuals simply have not survived that will bridge the gap between old parish registers and the modern day

[GaryGillKeeper]

Finding interesting angles out of people too boring for Who Do You Think You Are. Kudos.

[cougarhunter]

i think the BBC is still pissed off at Chris over leaving Doctor Who.

[jog]

Many years ago I attended a talk at the WDYTYA fair at Olympia London, by the WDYTYA producers who said that they research 10 celebrity family trees for every one that makes it to the TV, telling us Cherie Blair’s ancestors were too boring to make the cut

[paulf]

You'd imagine that people who work in television would know how television production works.

[PamelaProPeace]

I'm sure some of the rejected ones were disappointed because THEY would have found their family history interesting but that doesn't mean it's of interest to a wider audience.
(Bit like those "wonderful" holiday photos your neighbour thinks you'd want to look at too!)

[sarahhunter]

Wow, Tom Jones' voice is still on point!

[JjVstraalen]

The best reaction about not chosen for Who do you think you are?, is Stacey Dooley for me.
A realistic one. In a way, she saw the humour of it, that her husband could do it.
She's so lovely.

[debbienicolle]

I’m another mere mortal who thought my family history would be totally boring. Maybe not quite? A couple of female ancestors escaped the Irish famine, a convict from the English/Welsh border area, a Scottish medico from 14/15th century era, some blue bloods from Normandy (way, way back), French Huguenots, and some inmates from a couple of poor houses, not to mention settlers in the South Australian areas. 🤨

[PamelaProPeace]

Why is this a surprise? Why on earth wouldn't the programmers only want to show stories that would be of interest?
To be honest, though I like the programme and have watched some fascinating episodes others have been frankly boring - so if other stories were even worse, thank goodness they were weeded out.

[fuzzylon]

Like everything else on telly - the question is "Does this make good telly?"
And after 150 episodes (according to Wikipedia) I would think only the most interesting histories are worth broadcasting or people will stop watching and the ratings will fall.

[audspod]

I'm not surprised they didn't showcase Richard Osman, Eamon Holmes or Dermot O'Leary!

[lindahopson]

This is actually a good thing to know. I always wondered how everybody they showcased had some interesting ancestry. Good to know I'm not the only one with a boring family background. There is something good about coming from stable boring stock, though.

[Jp-nb]

I followed my ancestry and came to a grandfather who was Scottish, didn’t think there was any Scot’s in my family and put his name on the internet, it showed that he owned a Demerara sugar plantation in the West Indies and owned slaves. In another part of the same family line there was the shortest serving prime minister (now it’s Liz truss), who was against slavery and friends with William Wilberforce. Amazing what you can find in these ancestry sites.

[SirAsdf]

It's nice for celebs to get a reality check that their lives aren't as interesting as they thought.

[flowerpower]

I think a bit of licence has been taken here. It's not that the celebrities life stories are boring, it's that the research teams couldn't find information (or interesting enough) for the celebrities' ancestors.

Not everyone has a documented history, waiting to be uncovered 100 years later. This is especially true for women through the ages. Their stories weren't documented or worse still, their names were lost in time as they were seen as chattel; someone's daughter or wife.

[aniainlondon]

I’d love to find out about Ian McShane’s ancestry. And Rufus Sewell’s.

[sarahdaytransformationalco]

Having researched my family roots, I can only add that I wished my ancestral family on both sides was boring😮 it's quite a shock to find out the tragic, bad and sad things. But also a lot of pride to see the resilience of some of the families too. Family history research is not for the faint-hearted.