Olly Murs fans left in tears over 'saddest ever' episode of Who Do You Think You Are as singer unveils his great grandmother's tragic life By Laura Parkin For Mailonline Published: 22:47 BST, 19 September 2024 | Updated: 23:02 BST, 19 September 2024 e-mail 2 View comments Olly Murs left his fans in tears when he uncovered the tragic story of his great grandmother on Thursday's 'saddest ever' episode of Who Do You Think You Are . The singer, 40, set out to learn more about his paternal great grandparents who hailed from Riga in Latvia , going on to discover they were circus performers. At the start of the episode, Olly explained how his grandfather last saw his mother when he was 12-years-old, with the incident effecting him throughout his life.
As he sets out to find out what happened to his Latvian great grandmother, Veronika Jankovska, he travels to the Salamonska Circus building in Riga. Olly discovers his great grand father, Eduards, had an affair with Veronika, who he met at the circus, while married to another woman, Katrine. Olly Murs left his fans in tears when he uncovered the tragic story of his great grandmother on Thursday's 'saddest ever' episode of Who Do You Think You Are As the episode progresses he learns Veronika, at 22-years-old, struggled as a young mother and was forced to hand her son, Eduards Jr, over to her own parents so she could continue to work at the circus.
When Nazi Germany seized control of the country, Eduards Jr travelled on a boat to Germany.