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Alex Scott tearful as she finds out ancestor owned 26 slaves: ‘That goes against everything I stand for’
Alex Scott was horrified about some of the details in the show (Picture: Getty Images)
Alex Scott was left emotional in an upcoming episode of Who Do You Think You Are? after finding out that one of her ancestors owned 26 slaves.
In the series, football pundit Alex travels to Jamaica for the first time in her life to trace her dad’s side of the family.
The 37-year-old was horrified to learn that her 4x great grandfather Robert Francis Coombes had owned slaves, and was shown the records of the people he enslaved between 1817 and 1832.
‘In my family line – this doesn’t sound right coming out of my mouth – but Robert Francis Coombs owned people?’ she said (via The Mirror).
She added: ‘In terms of explaining my emotion behind it, I suppose that goes against everything that I stand for, who I am.’
Alex went on to say: ‘I was very aware we may be delving into the topic of slavery, but I really did believe I’d be learning about my family as slaves, not the other side, as the slave owners.’
‘It was hard to take,’ she added. ‘That ownership of a human life is so wrong. I don’t think that stories are told a lot about black people owning slaves.’
Alex found out all about her family history (Picture: Anthony Harvey/REX/Shutterstock)
Despite being shocked about the details, Alex said she is glad to have found out more about her family’s past.
Alex has previously opened up about her father walking out on the family when she was seven.
However, she has remained close with her grandmother, and has often spoken about her bond with her mum.
She grew up in East London and, earlier this year, took to Twitter to deliver a classy response when former member of the House of Lords, Digby, Lord Jones, criticised her accent when she was presenting coverage of the Olympics.
The star who was born in Poplar to a Jamaican father and an Irish mother, tweeted: ‘I’m from a working class family in East London, Poplar, Tower Hamlets & I am PROUD. Proud of the young girl who overcame obstacles, and proud of my accent! It’s me, it’s my journey, my grit.
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‘A quick one to any young kids who may not have a certain kind of privilege in life. Never allow judgments on your class, accent, or appearance hold you back. Use your history to write your story. Keep striving, keep shining & don’t change for anyone.
‘Tweets like this just give me the energy to keep going. See you tomorrow.. live on BBC baby.’
Who Do You Think You Are? returns Monday at 9pm on BBC One.
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