Who Do You Think You Are viewers were left in ‘floods of tears’ after watching Olly Murs discover his great-grandmother’s ‘heartbreaking’ wartime story. The 40-year-old singer found fame after placing second in the sixth season of The X Factor in 2009 and has since gone on to top the UK charts with hits such as Heart Skips A Beat and Troublemaker. On Thursday night the father-of-one delved into his family history on BBC series Who Do You Think You Are, which offers celebrities the chance to uncover their roots and the wild stories that led them to where they are today.
During the episode, Olly tapped into his Latvian roots and travelled out there to discover more about his paternal great-grandparents who were circus performers from Riga. In particular, he was keen to learn more about the fate of his great-grandmother Veronika Jankovska. Earlier in the episode he recalled that his grandfather last saw her when he was only 12 years old.
After arriving at the Salamonska Circus building he found out that his great-grandfather Eduards had an affair with Veronika despite his marriage to his wife, Katrine. Life took a tragic turn when World War Two broke out and a 22-year-old Veronika was forced to leave her child, Eduards Jr, who eventually fled with his father’s family who, at some point, ended up in Essex. Veronika was left behind in Latvia and imprisoned in a labour camp for eight years where she continued to look for her son but never saw him again.
She died in 1988.