Chrissy Teigen has learned that she is of Roma descent during her appearance on a new TV show.
Chrissy Teigen has learned that she is of Roma descent.
The 39-year-old model – who was born in Utah but now lives in Beverly Hills, LA with her husband John Legend – is taking part in an upcoming episode of the PBS genealogy series ‘Finding Your Roots’ and thought it was “so cool” she made the discovery about her heritage.
In a clip from the January 28 episode obtained by Today.com, host Henry Louis Gates Jr. explained: “They’re traditionally itinerant people who lived all over Europe for centuries. You are part Roma.”
Chrissy responded: “Wow, that’s so cool. I love it!”
The professor then explained to Chrissy – who has Luna, eight, Miles, six, Esti, two, and 19-month-old Wren with the ‘All of Me’ singer – that her ancestors tended to favour a kind of career that focused on travelling to entertain others, although it could be a “rough” life because they were often discriminated against.
He said: “Generally they lived among themselves on the outskirts of larger communities or pursued an itinerant trade within those communities such as being a musician. They traveled often, usually with families.
“It was rough to be a Roma. For centuries, they were discriminated against and they were even persecuted, just like the Jews were in Europe.”
Henry then asked the former ‘Lip Sync Battle’ host whether she thought her ancestors were motivated to relocate to the US to “escape all the persecution” in Europe, and she admitted that was probably the case.
She said: “Yeah, of course. I just … it’s so unreal.”
Last year, Chrissy had done a DNA test through 23andMe as she continued on her “journey of health and wellness” after giving up alcohol and took to social media to tell fans about the “insane” 24 hours when she mistakenly believed that she had a long-lost identical twin.
Speaking in a video posted to Instagram, she said: “So, let me tell you guys about my past insane 24 hours. As some of you know, I have been on a bit of a journey for the past few years and just trying to figure out about my past and my family and the typical stuff we’re all curious about. With the encouragement of my therapist and doctor, I did 23andMe which I had already done a few years ago but I had never done a more deep dive, I had just done a heritage thing. So I paid for some of the upgrades and the first thing came up after I found out that I was part-neanderthal was this [identical twin symbol]. I have an identical twin. That has to be a joke, right? So I full-on write 23andMe and start talking to a robot like it’s not a robot. I text my f****** doctor and at this point I was spiralling! “
But Chrissy’s sister then reminded her of the preparation she had to do for the PBS show when producers had put them under false names to keep their identities sealed and then realised she had been “matching herself” the entire time.
She said: “My sister was like ‘Chrissy, no, remember when you were supposed to do that show ‘Finding Your Roots?’
“So, they had us all take DNA tests and they put it under secret names so the world couldn’t tell. This never aired, the show didn’t air and we didn’t finish shooting it. My identical twin…was myself. I was matching myself.”
Chrissy Teigen makes major discovery about her ancestry: ‘That’s so cool!’
