Strictly star breaks down over ‘emotional’ family discovery

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Dev Griffin got emotional after he made a sad discovery about his family history while filming for Who Do You Think You Are?

The BBC Radio 1 DJ, who admitted to not knowing his dad very well, travelled to Ireland and Jamaica to learn all about his mum and dad’s heritage.

However, while over in Jamaica, Dev explained there was an “incredibly emotional” moment when he paid a visit to his grandfather’s gravestone.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk and other press about what he found out, the broadcaster admitted visiting his grandfather’s gravestone gave him a lot of “peace”.

“I mean, I could not explain to you how intense that was of an experience,” Dev began.

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“It looks like I just went and hung out in Jamaica for a week and sat on the beach, but it’s not that at all.

“When I went to my dad’s classroom on the first day of being in Jamaica…I’ve never met anybody on my dad’s side of the family before and I’ve never been to where my dad was from before.

“So, I’m discovering all of these things and I’ll be honest with you, I was a little bit apprehensive going into it because I thought this is such a personal moment for me.

“I didn’t know if I wanted to have this all documented and have cameras in my face and that sort of thing.”

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Despite his fears, Dev explained filming for the show ended up being a “beautiful” experience for him.

“It was incredibly emotional,” Dev remembered before admitting: “My dad is not somebody I know that well.

“I know him to call him and we have a little chat, but I don’t know him as a person that well.

“There’s something about going to where your parents are from… that stretch of road that they grew up on.

“You understand them more than anything they could tell you about themselves and I found that incredibly comforting.”

There is a moment in Dev’s BBC episode where he stands beside where his grandfather and grandmother are buried.

The DJ admitted to getting choked up during the segment, explaining it had taken him 37 years to find out about his family tree.

He shared: “I don’t think my story is necessarily that unique in that you’ve grown up not knowing that much about maybe one of your parents or about where they’re from.

“And so, a lot of times if you have grown up under those circumstances, you maybe have to define your identity somewhere else.

“I grew up in London, I grew up in a very multicultural society so it wasn’t necessarily that important to go, ‘I’m Jamaican or I’m Irish’.”

Dev added: “I do think it is important. It is important to know where you’re from and what that might mean and some of the cultural significance of it as well.

“I don’t think that is something you should ignore, and I think that’s what I was doing for a really long time.”

Dev Griffin’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? is available to watch on BBC One on July 13.

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