Who Do You Think You Are | 2023 Preview (BBC One)

From early June Who Do You Think You Are? will return to BBC One, following nine celebrities on extremely personal journeys as they each delve into unknown family ancestry and unearth startling facts and truths about their heritage that they wouldn’t have begun to guess otherwise.

With familial discoveries ranging from clog-wearing rope dancers and Scottish royalty to murder trials and tragic accidents, the celebrities’ journeys take them across the UK as well as to Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada, Jamaica and Australia in pursuit of the truth behind their family stories.

This newest series of Who Do You Think You Are? is filled with astonishing revelations for the celebrities who have chosen to bare all in Series 20 of the show. Musical theatre master Andrew Lloyd Webber unearths uncanny parallels between his life and the lives of his ancestors.

Actor and comedian Emily Atack discovers that she, Ryan Reynolds and a certain football club have a lot more in common than she might ever have guessed. Award-winning actors Claire Foy and Lesley Manville dive head-first into their family histories only to stumble upon stories worthy of any TV drama. Claire finds out that her family were caught up in a murder trial and Lesley learns how an ancestor fighting for workers’ rights ended up paying a very heavy price.

Meanwhile Strictly Come Dancing winner and actor Kevin Clifton and broadcaster & DJ Dev Griffin find themselves travelling overseas on the trail of their ancestors. Kevin ends up in one of the most remote places in Canada and Dev travels to Jamaica where he’s surprised by some very personal records about his great grandparents.

Comedian, podcaster and TV host Chris Ramsey comes to realise that the saying ‘you make your own luck’ might be one of the most apt phrases applied to his family’s past as he discovers some extraordinary survival stories and an ancestor who won a very unusual lottery.

Twin doctors and presenters Chris and Xand van Tulleken make their Who Do You Think You Are? journey together, on the trail of their Dutch ancestry, and adventurer Bear Grylls is delighted to end up in the wild, surprisingly through a royal connection.

The highly anticipated Season 20 of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ will bring shocking truths, tears, and tragedies as well as moving and uplifting stories to viewers at home, as the celebrities uncover affecting moments in their family histories that will impact them in ways they didn’t think possible.

Simon Young, BBC Head of History, says: “As one of Britain’s most beloved documentary series approaches 20 years on our screens, the line-up of household names, and the array of astonishing family histories, grow from strength to strength. This series is often imitated but never bettered, and this latest edition demonstrates why.”

Colette Flight, Executive Producer for Wall to Wall, says: “Who Do You Think You Are? is back with nine much-loved celebrities investigating their ancestry. The series will see them uncover incredible, moving and dramatic stories as their individual family trees reflect and shine a light on all of our shared history.”

The new series of Who Do You Think You Are? launches on BBC One Thursday 1st June.