Viewers in tears as Stacey Dooley helps man discover long-lost family on DNA Family Secrets

Viewers were in tears during the emotional first episode of DNA Family Secrets, which saw Stacey Dooley help people discover more about their genealogy.

The episodes focused on Bill, who was attempting to find out more about his dad.

Stacey met with Bill, whose father was an African American GI based in Leicestershire during the Second World War.

Bill’s dad – named Wibert Wiley – met Bill’s mother Betty and the pair fell in love. However, he did not return from America after the war.

‘My mother believed that he died, and that’s why he didn’t come back to her,’ Bill revealed, explaining that he never looked into his history while his mother was alive.

‘I just take comfort from that fact – she loved my dad, and I’m the result,’ Bill said.

The 75-year-old was excited about the prospect of finding somebody ‘over the pond’ he could be related to.

‘Maybe they’ll be pleased to find out about me, because they like Brits don’t they, the Yanks,’ he joked.

Stacey and Bill were helped by top geneticists at the university of Leicester, who had helped to identify the remains of Richard III in 2012.

‘I hope it does happen,’ Bill told them about the prospect of finding family. ‘Because I’m running out of time.’

He also said that he had a picture of his father while he was a child. However, he lost the picture and now can’t remember what he looked like.

In one shocking moment, the experts found that Bill’s father had been in a relationship with someone before he met his mother, and that they had a child named Don.

‘Yeah that’s news to me. I thought there might be someone when he went back. That’s quite a revelation,’ Bill said.

After learning that his half-brother Don passed away 11 years previously, Bill was also told that his father would not have been able to return and marry Bill’s mother, as interracial marriages were illegal in the US at the time.

Stacey had another powerful gift for Bill during the episode, as she handed Bill a picture of his father, which left him lost for words.

The results also showed that he had cousins living in Texas, and Bill joined them over Zoom, seeing them for the first time.

‘He looks a lot like our dad!’ they said.

Viewers were left in floods of tears during the emotional moments, and took to Twitter to share their reactions.

‘[Stacey Dooley] has me in floods of tears already,’ he said.

‘Very emotional moment for Bill there,’ another added.

The episode also saw 53-year-old Richard discover more about his family, after previously finding the man who raised him was not his biological father.

A young couple also took a test to discover whether their young were at risk of Hungtington’s Disease, with the result coming back negative in emotional scenes.

The rest of the four-part series will see more people learn more about their family history, with Stacey helping them along the way.

DNA Family Secret continues at 9pm on BBC Two.

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