Gemma Collins - Why Do You Think You Are?

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I watched this expecting to turn it off after 10 minutes as I am usually so irritated by her.
Actually watched the whole thing and found her quite likeable at times. She was irritating but in an oddly endearing, genuine, way. She was gloriously awful but at the same time has a bit of nous about her, didn't mind being make-up free on camera for most of the programme, was incredibly badly dressed, could talk to anyone at all and get on with them. She was totally unsnobbish and it was an interesting, sad, story of women being judged and treated badly by men and society and tough lives.
Anyone else watch it?
Along with Olly Murs last week, it is the best of the last series which have been increasingly dull.

I really enjoy WDYTYA? Doesn’t matter who the subject is to me because genealogy is a great interest.
My mum spent a year tracing her side of our family, fascinating! 4 branches, going back to the early 1600s. When we move to our retirement flat and slow down a bit I intend to continue with it.
If the producers are reading this, please consider taking very ordinary, unknown people. I’d call it “Who Are Ya?”
Our family tree is fascinating, some notable people - including Evelyn Waugh, Laurence of Arabia, the person who built the first Presbyterian church in Australia, a family castle in Scotland, a 9 times great grandfather who was the child of a Jamaican slave and the son of a Scottish noble (who was hung, drawn and quartered for being a Jacobite sympathiser), who worked with Wilberforce and was imprisoned for his radical writings. Plus many more unknown people with remarkable lives from nobility to workhouse.
Genealogy is the best rabbit hole ever and I’d recommend that everyone gives it a go!

Last night's one was so interesting. In a mental hospital at 13. Wow. How awful. I got a bit confused about all the relatives but one of them said something about the man who I assume was the father being "a nice man" and I just wondered if anyone had any insight into the parents. Did they think they were doing the right thing for their daughter? Was her behaviour way more erratic than the show suggested? I'd like to have known more about that but maybe no-one who is left really knows.

I love this tv show. I also enjoy the more 'ordinary' working class ones since that's my entire family history. No-one famous among us.

Although Olly Murs' was one of my favourites in a while. That poor woman who got pregnant by an older married man she met at work. His life carried on and hers went all wrong. When they said how recently she had died, trying to find her son the whole time, that was so sad.

I also 'like' any about WW2 and the Holocaust. I find that such a huge subject and this programme makes it so accessible and real, looking at actual families who could be mine or my neighbour's.

Why Do You Think You Are? could be a philosophical discussion programme, I suppose. Though I can’t imagine Gemma Collins would have much to contribute. She comes across as amiable, but monumentally stupid, but that’s how they appear to have cast TOWIE, I suppose.

That, or she’s an astonishingly good actress.

Don't think I've seen that one! Will look it out.

Didn’t the programme tell you who she was at the beginning?

I agree. DD is a huge Anne Boleyn fan and loves it as well.

i found Gemma Collins odd, she was definitely very unpretentious and going on camera looking like a mess sometimes added to this.

Her story was sad.

I think they are running out of people to bring on the show. This series was definitely one of the less good ones.

Harry Webb aka Cliff Richard would never do WDYTYA. He has constantly denied his Indian ancestry, even when his community would have appreciated his support.

I missed the first 10 mins!

I imagine her prolific smoking had something to do with her early death.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this episode. I also loved the fact that she was happy to be make up free on camera given how made up she usually is - I suppose it differentiates between her "GC" character and the "real" Gemma. I didn't know anything about her before really.

I knew nothing about GC beyond the fact she was in TOWIE (never watched) but I loved it. It was quite sad but she dealt with the revelations in her own unique way and with a surprising good sense of humour and pride.
Good on her!

It wouldn't be his past, it would be his ancestors.

You need to watch the documentary style shows she's done, especially the one where she reads out nasty comments about her and how she perceives them.

The media portrayal and her reality TV character are very different to them.

Oh shit! Can't believe that mistake! I must have been very tired 😁

The one that sticks in my mind is David Dickinson. When he went to a church in Turkey it was so clear he was from that community.

I thought Jeremy Irons was convinced he was Irish and turned out not to be? My own family background was very similar to Mel C's.

I love her !

The Nigel Havers one sticks in my memory. He was such a nasty piece of work.

I don't remember that one, @Greenfingersorangetoes , what did he do?

Ones that stick out for me
Bill Oddie
Danny Dyer
Alexander Armstrong
Barbara Windsor

The BBC should rerun a few of the good ones.

I agree OP. She came across so much better than I expected.
I guess the GC thing is her playing a character, it was refreshing to see her as herself and see her genuine interest and amazement at the things she discovered.
It reminded me that I shouldn't be so judgemental of people like this, when all I see is how they are depicted in the press.

I remember the one with the actress Anne Reid (Last Tango in Halifax, etc). She found an (Victorian?) ancestor who had committed fraud etc, and sounded quite dodgy. He had been forced to leave the country. (Not transported I think).

She was strangely belligerent about defending him, couldn't care less about those he'd defrauded, and she came over quite oddly. It's put me off her, I quite liked her before that!

Argh I’ve just been googling to try to find out what this new show might be. I genuinely thought it was an evolution of the concept - some sort of psychology show. Everything you said about her family would fit.

I loved the Kevin Clifton one, taking him back to the First Nations of Canada. I found it fascinating.

I've watched every programme as Family Tree is my passion. The programme has helped me understand why some things have happened in my ancestors lives.

I have a minor celebrity family member think soap / hello magazine level. I always hope they'll make a WDYTYA about them to find out more about our shared family. Both grandparents dead now and from my dabble on Ancestry are largely Irish farming stock / Scottish clergy and aristocracy and then back to Robert the Bruce - how accurate it is is anyone's guess but it would be interesting to find out. We do have a far more interesting family member who emigrated to the states and they would probably focus entirely on him - as would be just.

I absolutely love this programme. You get to know the person and a bit of their family background but also just general social history of the time. It's SO interesting - I always learn something.

What an amazing experience to be able to go through. I know we can all do Ancestry and snout about a bit but it's quite another thing to have all these experts and local historians dig things out for you.

It always fascinates me is that there still exists all these bits of paperwork - registers and so on - with information on regarding ancestors they had never even heard of. It makes me want to conduct a forensic investigation into my own family tree.

Gemma came across as warm, curious, polite and down to earth. Just lovely, in fact.

The Alistair McGowan one was my all time favourite, fascinating.