Behind the Scenes on Who Do You Think You Are

The new series of "Who Do You Think You Are" is currently in progress on BBC 1, although it appears to be taking a hiatus for the World Cup coverage. The first three episodes of the series featuring Zoe Ball, Joe Swash and Amy Dowden have already aired, and are available - for those of you in the UK - on the BBC iplayer.

I was absolutely delighted to be asked to be one of the genealogists presenting research to Zoe Ball in the first episode, and thought it might be interesting to explain what really goes on behind the scenes.

The first thing to point out is that can often take a long time between filming, and the finished programme being aired on TV as the production crew are working around the availability of the celebrities. We filmed in February 2025, and the show did not appear on TV until May 2026.

The first contact I had was an email to my business address from a researcher, explaining that she was working on a BBC family history show and was looking for people in Glasgow and would I be interested? I replied that I was, and she asked me to hop on a Zoom call a few days later to hear more. At this point I had a good idea it was for Who Do You Think You Are, but they had not disclosed which celebrity, only that it was a woman. I chatted with the researcher on Zoom about all sorts of things - my background, knowledge of Scotland and genealogy and whether I had screen experience which I don't. She then disclosed that the celebrity was Zoe, showed me some of the documents you saw on screen, and asked for my take on them. Date was set for filming in the Mitchell Library in Glasgow.

I then got a fuller brief with all of the information and certificates which were shown on screen to allow me to read through them, look at the interesting information, think about how to explain that to the celebrity. Interestingly, there was also guidance about what to wear on screen - no white, no stripes or checks, no brands, no logos.

So on the day I arrived at the Library and met the same researcher I'd spoken to on Zoom and was escorted through the back entrance of the library and through the storage areas which the public don't usually get to see which was pretty cool! The crew was setting up in the room for filming and there weren't many of them - four people I think and everyone was lovely. Quick chat with the director about what she wanted. The main thing with the show is that they want it to be natural. A conversation between the expert and the celebrity, not a pre-prepared speech which you reel off. Met Zoe who was absoutely lovely as expected and put me at my ease.

We probably filmed for about an hour as we just let the conversation flow and they kept filming. Zoe was interested, engaged and very sharp. Instantly "got" what the certificates were showing and didn't need any hand holding or explanation of handwriting. They then moved the camera around so they were filming over out shoulders and we filmed her pointing out things on the documents which they spliced together with the previous footage. We had some lunch and then we said our goodbyes as Zoe went off to film the part where she reflects on what she's learned and her feelings on it all.

A few things I'd always wondered about which I learned on the day. The celebrities genuinely don't know where their story is taking them. Obviously some will know they have Caribbean or Italian heritage so it's not a shock when they head to the airport. But Zoe was unaware that her dad's granny was Scottish so had no idea she was coming to Glasgow until the day before. She did say she knew she wasn't going overseas as they'd told her not to bring her passport. The celebrities are not shown the documents or certificates before they are presented with them on camera. They are seeing them for the first time and trying to get to grips with them just in the way the viewer sees on TV. You just don't have time to explore someone's entire family tree on both sides of the family in a 60 minute show, so the director has "cherry picked" what people or life stories they wish to highlight. I would have loved to have gone further back on the McMenemy line to see where they originated from, but that was not the focus of the show.

Overall, it was such a positive experience, and I am very chuffed to have been asked!