Paddy McGuinness discovers hidden connection to US President Joe Biden as he delves into his ancestry on new series of Who Do You Think You Are
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Paddy McGuinness is set to discover that he has a hidden connection to US President Joe Biden on the new series of Who Do You Think You Are?.
The former Top Gear presenter, 50, delved into his family's history in Ireland for the BBC ancestry show.
But he was shocked to discover his great-great-grandparents Mark McGuinness and Winifred Malloy lived close to the 81-year-old U.S. President's ancestor, Edward Blewitt, in Ballina, County Mayo.
During the episode, which will air on August 22, Paddy will also take a look at his grandfather's medal won for his brave actions during the Second World War.
'My ancestors over here in Ballina who lived on the same street as Joe Biden's ancestors,' Paddy said.
Paddy McGuinness discovered that he has a hidden connection to US President Joe Biden during filming for the new series of Who Do You Think You Are? (pictured last October)
Paddy was shocked to discover his great-great-grandparents Mark McGuinness and Winifred Malloy lived close to the 81-year-old U.S. President's ancestor, Edward Blewitt, in Ballina, County Mayo (pictured in Dublin in 2023)
'I think the biggest highlight for me was actually seeing my granddad's war medal. That for me was a real moment where I felt like I was holding a piece of history in my hand.
'My dad would have loved to find more out about our Irish ancestors, and it would have been nice to bring him out to Ballina and what have you, but I'll have a pint of the black stuff for him.'
The ex Take Me Out host added he always felt 'ignorant' about his heritage but emphasised that he has always had a 'spiritual connection' to County Mayo.
He said: 'I do feel a real spiritual connection, even on this beach today.
'It's absolutely beautiful here on the west coast of Ireland they could have been playing on here as kids walking up and down here, who knows. It's quite a romantic thought, but I like it.
'It's just been one of them where there's so many lovely little surprises, my grandad on my mum's side with the Spitfire connection.'
Meanwhile, Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania yet can trace his roots back to County Louth and County Mayo.
His connections to Ireland come mainly on his mother's side with his great-great-grandfather Edward having grown up in Ballina, Co. Mayo before emigrating to Scranton after the Irish potato famine of the 1840s.
During the episode, which will air on August 22, Paddy will also take a look at his grandfather's medal won for his brave actions during the Second World War
Biden was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania yet traces his roots back to County Louth and County Mayo
During an event at the White House in March 2023 to celebrate St Patrick's Day, Mr Biden was described by current Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as 'unmistakably a son of Ireland'
Another of the US President's great-great-grandfathers, Owen Finnegan, was a shoemaker from Co. Louth who emigrated to America in 1849.
It is another in list of surprise connections uncovered on the show, after Danny Dyer discovered his royal relations back in 2016.
Danny was floored to discover that his line of descent winds back to the 16th century, and Henry VIII's brutish adviser Thomas Cromwell.
Cromwell's son Gregory married Elizabeth Seymour, sister of Henry's favourite wife Jane. And those girls were direct descendants of Edward III, who ruled England for half a century from 1327.
The actor's macho delight at learning he was separated from the throne by a mere 22 generations was a joy to behold.
'It can't be,' he marvelled. 'A direct descendant from Edward the Third? It's just stupid, innit? I think I'm gonna treat myself to a ruff, get a massive ruff and just bowl about in it and if anyone queries it, I'll just explain to them.'
More than 160 celebrities have appeared on the show, beginning with Bill Oddie, Amanda Redman and Sue Johnston in 2004, and with Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm, Olympian Jessica Ennis-Hill and singer Olly Murs among those taking part this time round.
In the TV series, Dame Judi Dench was agog to learn how her father, Reginald, earned his Military Cross and bar in the First World War. She was startled to discover that, on her mother's side, she is descended from a lady-in-waiting at the 16th-century Danish royal court.
Danny Dyer discovered that his line of descent winds back to the 16th century, and Henry VIII's brutish adviser Thomas Cromwell
Dame Judi Dench was agog to learn how her father, Reginald, earned his Military Cross and bar in the First World War
Pictured, Dame Judi Dench's family holiday in France. From left to right, sister-in-law Daphne, brother Jeffrey, father Reginald and Dame Judi Dench
Comedian Paul Merton found himself in a Cardiff cemetery, standing over an unmarked grave, under an umbrella in a downpour. His grandmother, the wife of a First World War veteran, died in childbirth. Paul looked bereft, and it was a grim reminder that not all family history ends with a coat of arms.
During a visit to the College of Arms, Andrew Lloyd Webber took the opportunity to suggest it was high time he was granted an official family emblem. He fancied something feline, in honour of his musical Cats. 'We have to steer people away from having too many domestic pets,' the college's heraldic expert retorted tartly.
Since Lord L-W was already knowledgeable about his family tree, the Beeb's experts treated him as a challenge – and unearthed a colourful collection of ancestors whose existence he'd never suspected. They included a Victorian missionary whose life's work was saving the prostitutes of the East End, and a soldier who fought at Waterloo.
Sometimes, the archivists have only to go back one generation. Charles Dance revealed that he knew little about his mother's past, and barely remembered his father, who died in 1949, when young Charlie was not yet four.
The episode was a series of captivating surprises, as the actor discovered that his father, Walter, was 25 years older than he'd realised and had fought in the Boer War – as well as fathering two daughters whose existence Charles had never suspected.
Kate Winslet also uncovered a Scandinavian forebear, though hers was a Swedish peasant imprisoned for stealing potatoes.
Her three-times-great-grandfather was a former Grenadier Guardsman who became chief warder at Dartmoor prison – while both Twiggy and Tracey Emin learned of ancestors who were sentenced to hard labour.
