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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 set out to find out what happened to his Latvian great grandmother, Veronika Jankovska, he travelled to the Salamonska Circus building in Riga.
Olly discovered 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
She died in 1988 with no family around her, despite having great grandchildren, and was buried in an unmarked grave, which Olly goes to visit
As the episode progressed, he learned 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 as a refugee with his father and his father’s wife, while his mother Veronica stayed behind in Latvia.
‘WWII had a real impact on my family. I think Veronica made a very bold decision that day, leaving her son and knowing that she might never see him again,’ Olly said.
‘I wish my grandad could have understood his mum’s decisions..’
Many Latvians ended up going to the UK to help with labour shortages, which is how his family came to live in Essex.
Tragically, Olly discovered that Veronika was imprisoned in a labour camp for eight years, and despite searching for her son after her release she never found him.
She died in 1988 with no family around her, despite having great grandchildren, and was buried in an unmarked grave, which Olly goes to visit.
Sharing their thoughts on X, viewers wrote: ‘Olly I’m CRYING. I know your grandad will be with his mam up in heaven right now. They may have not found each other here, but I know they’re together up there now, looking down on you all, especially you and Amelia and little Madi, and they’re so proud.’
‘WWII had a real impact on my family. I think Veronica made a very bold decision that day, leaving her son and knowing that she might never see him again,’ Olly said
Sharing their thoughts on X, viewers wrote: ‘Olly I’m CRYING’
Others added: ‘This is so emotional to watch. I can’t imagine how hard this must have been to film, to find out so much so publicly. Fascinating and heartbreaking’; ‘One glass of red wine (large) and I’m crying about olly murs on who do you think you are’; ‘Fantastic Olly best thing I’ve watched for a long time!’; ‘This is one of the saddest I’ve seen. Poor Veronika’; ‘Awww I’m in tears already.’
Earlier in the day, Olly discussed the episode with Richard Madeley on Thursday’s Good Morning Britain.
Olly told the host how he had discovered entertainment was ‘in his blood’ as his great grandfather was a circus performer.
And he appeared on GMB to promote the show where as he was introduced with a short clip of his musical achievements.
When the video was over, host Kate Garraway made a quick joke about his hit song Troublemaker as she quipped he has to be grown up now because he’s a new dad.
Olly then told the presenters he was excited to one day show his daughter his career from the start as images of his family appeared on-screen.
A cheeky Richard then said: ‘Look at you! You’ve got a beautiful baby, you’ve got a beautiful wife.
‘You look great, you’ve got a fantastic career, you’ve got a great back catalogue. You make me sick!’
Olly then began laughing as he replied: ‘I’ll take it!’ as Richard added: ‘What I mean is, you must feel blessed sometimes.’
In Who Do You Think You Are Olly discovered his ancestors were circus performers.
Earlier in the day, Olly discussed the episode with Richard Madeley on Thursday’s Good Morning Britain
Olly told the host how he had discovered entertainment was ‘in his blood’ as his great grandfather was a circus performer
Richard quipped to Olly: ‘You look great, you’ve got a fantastic career, you’ve got a great back catalogue. You make me sick!’
He explained on GMB: ‘I found out that Veronica, my great grandmother was a trapeze artist, a full-time trapeze artist.
‘She was based in Latvia and they would travel around the Baltic seas, different countries to Germany and Finland.
‘They were performing for troops, people at war and they were just entertainers. ‘
There was me thinking that I was the only Murs that had their name in lights and Murs was already a thing!’
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