Paddy McGuinness discovers surprise link to Joe Biden in Who Do You Think You Are?

What did you miss?

Paddy McGuinness has uncovered a surprising connection to US President Joe Biden in his episode of Who Do You Think You Are?.

The comedian and TV presenter admitted he knew very little about his family - even his own parents - and felt "ignorant" each time he was asked where in Ireland his roots lay as he didn't know.

So the Bolton star was excited to find out the detailed history of his family, including his connection to Ireland and Biden.

What, how, and why?

"I don't know if you've had anyone on the show who knows as little about their family as me," admitted Paddy McGuinness at the start of Who Do You Think You Are?. "I don't even know that much about my mum and dad...Anything is a treat for me, anything."

So it turned out that a huge surprise was in store for the Bolton comedian as he was told of an unexpected connection to US President Joe Biden while finally discovering his Irish roots.

Before travelling to Ballina in County Mayo, McGuinness said: "The number of times over the years I've been asked where in Ireland my family are from, and I've felt so ignorant not knowing."

He went in search of more information about his great-grandmother Bridget McGuinness after discovering her boarder was the father of her child, the comedian's grandfather. He commented: "So the boarder is my grandad's dad? This is all getting a bit Jeremy Kyle for me now."

But further surprises were to come in Ballina as a local historian told him that the Irish ancestors Biden often proudly speaks of lived next to McGuinness' own relatives.

The TV star said: "There's been so many lovely little surprises...my ancestors over here in Ballina lived on the same street as Joe Biden's ancestors."

Incredibly, McGuinness found out his paternal grandparents' names for the first time during the show, as well as hearing that his grandfather had fought in the Boer War at the same time as Winston Churchill and where Mahatma Gandhi was a stretcher bearer.

McGuinness seemed thrilled to have found out so much family detail and while walking along a beach in County Mayo as the episode wrapped up, he said: "I do feel a real spiritual connection. They could have been playing on here as kids, walking up and down."

What else has been happening on Who Do You Think You Are?

Last week, Line of Duty star Vicky McClure was keen to find out more about her great grandfather Harry Millership, who was taken to Taiwan during World War Two as a Japanese prisoner of war and forced to work in a copper mine under terrible conditions.

His story left McClure heartbroken and in tears as she visited the mine and was shown his death certificate, hearing how he had been the first to die there after a fall when he was 35 years old.

She admitted: "The whole thing has been the most incredible, disturbing and life-changing experience. There's been a lot of it I've not found easy."

McClure identified with her great grandfather as she spoke about how difficult she found the trip to Taiwan, saying: "I'm not the greatest at travelling too far from home, especially alone... It's really overwhelming."

"There's a reason I'm an actor and it's because I've got a very vivid imagination," she added after hearing the details of his imprisonment. "Sometimes I battle with that. I think I'm battling with it here. My head's all over the shop and I'm learning information that is just horrific. It's my great grandad, it's my mum's grandad, it's just too close.

"I feel like I want to go home, or I want my family here with me. I feel really on my own in this because it's so much to take in and take on. And yet I feel terrible for feeling like that because he was alone, he didn't have his family and he didn't make it home. I just weirdly feel connected which is bonkers because I never even met him."

Who Do You Think You Are? airs on BBC One at 9pm on Thursday.

Read more: Paddy McGuinness

• Paddy McGuinness' life off-screen including marriage split with Christine McGuinness (Manchester Evening News, 5 min read)

• Paddy McGuinness' heartfelt response as pal Freddie Flintoff makes TV return after horror crash (OK!, 2 min read)

• Paddy McGuinness to discuss divorce in new tour (BANG Showbiz, 2 min read)

This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/paddy-mcguinness-joe-biden-ancestors-215925115.html