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Join us as we explore emotional and unforgettable moments from "Who Do You Think You Are?" when celebrities discover and reunite with long-lost relatives. From surprising cousin encounters to heartfelt journeys across the globe, watch as stars like Emmitt Smith, Lisa Kudrow, Lea Michele, and more uncover their family histories and make powerful connections that change their lives forever. You won’t want to miss these touching reunions!
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00:00Lisa, good enough in my home? Not in my TV? I don't believe.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at the most memorable meetups and reunions
00:09from the U.S. version of the genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?
00:13Or who I thought I was when we started this odyssey is different than who I know I am today.
00:21Emmett Smith
00:22Like many celebrity guests on Who Do You Think You Are,
00:25former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmett Smith wanted to learn as much as he could about his ancestors.
00:30We all are connected one way or another, and it's by the blood, some way, shape, or form.
00:36Now, how that connection ties back to me, that's what I'm looking to find out.
00:41Following the trail of his paternal great-great-grandparents, Bill and Victoria Watson,
00:45leads the Florida native to Burnt Corn, Alabama.
00:48Smith goes to a convenience store to ask about any Watson descendants in the area.
00:52Coincidentally, the clerk, Joe Watson Jr., is actually his second cousin.
00:57We are descendants of him.
00:59We, we, and...
01:01And you.
01:02And me.
01:03Mm-hmm.
01:04All right, I'm Emmett. Who are you?
01:05I'm Joe.
01:06You're Joe?
01:07Uh-huh.
01:07Joe Watson?
01:08Joe Watson, too, yeah.
01:09Wow.
01:09And, according to him, Smith may have met Joe Sr. at a family reunion years prior.
01:15While Smith learned a lot about his family through old documents and photos, nothing beats making a tangible connection with
01:21a relative right in front of you.
01:23As it turns out, Bill and Victoria are Joe's great-grandparents, making him my second cousin.
01:30Steve Buscemi.
01:31As an actor and as a director, I'm always interested in the struggles of people's lives.
01:37Long before he was born, actor-filmmaker Steve Buscemi's maternal grandmother Amanda Van Dyne took her own life.
01:44Never having the chance to meet her and the general lack of information about her lineage inspired the Brooklyn native
01:49to research her family tree.
01:51It would be great if I can find out some real concrete information about my mom's family, because I think
01:56it would mean a lot to her.
01:58She sort of grew up not knowing much.
02:01Luckily, a distant relative already created one on Ancestry.com, who turns out to be Buscemi's third cousin, Carol Olive.
02:09The two meet at the old residence of his great-grandmother, Jane Montgomery, which became Setea no Tekei Kuchina, a
02:15restaurant Buscemi says he visits often.
02:17Although it's not as emotional as other meetings on this list, it's still nice to see Buscemi and a relative
02:23trade information about their family.
02:25Now I know how my mom's family, when they started in New York, in Brooklyn.
02:31Right.
02:32Leah Michelle.
02:33Leah Michelle always felt closer to her mother's Italian-American side of the family, but knew very little about her
02:39father's Jewish ancestry.
02:41On Who Do You Think You Are, the singer-actress decided to trace his lineage.
02:45Oh my god.
02:46There you go.
02:48Look.
02:49Morris, Bessie, and Celia.
02:52Place of birth.
02:53Turkey.
02:54They came from Turkey.
02:55As many Jewish people know, looking back at their ancestors' lives is nothing short of devastating.
03:01But her genealogical journey has a silver lining.
03:04Michelle meets Kohava Koki Mordecai, her second cousin, who shares more information about their family tree.
03:10I'm the cousin and the second cousin of you.
03:13So, whose daughter are you?
03:16I'm the daughter of Moshe Mordecai.
03:19My father is the youngest son of Estrella.
03:22Koki already met Michelle's father, Mark Sarfati, a long time ago.
03:25After not having seen each other for decades, the two had a heartfelt reunion.
03:30Koki.
03:31Wow.
03:32Koki.
03:33Koki.
03:34Koki.
03:37I haven't seen Koki since I'm married.
03:4030, 30 years.
03:41We've been hanging out all day.
03:42Julie Chen Moonves.
03:44Host and producer Julie Chen Moonves traveled to China to find more information about her maternal grandfather, Lu Gautong.
03:51In Peng Lai, she learns about his major contributions to education, including co-founding the Anshan Primary School with his
03:58brother, Lu Junzu.
04:05She then meets Lu Gautong's niece, Ke Yucai, making her Chen's first cousin once removed.
04:12The two walk arm-in-arm around his home, where they pay their respects to him and other relatives who've
04:17passed.
04:17She's talking to your grandfather now about announcing your presence.
04:22And she also introduced you to your grandfather.
04:29Later, Chen meets more distant cousins, and they visit the tomb of her great-grandfather, Lu Ru Lin, with Ke
04:35leading the way.
04:36Seeing your ancestral home is exciting, but doing it with family makes it all the more special.
04:49Looking for more heartfelt reunions?
04:52Check out Ms. Mojo's 24-7 livestream.
04:54Scan the QR code on screen to join us live for more non-stop TV fun.
04:58It's a real privilege to be able to say I've been here.
05:02Take this back to my parents, my siblings, and my son.
05:08Minnie Driver.
05:09At a young age, Minnie Driver realized her father Ronnie lived a double life.
05:14My parents met in around 1962, and they were together for 13 years.
05:18They broke up when I was six, and during that entire time, he, my dad, was married to somebody else.
05:26Because he never spoke of his past, she grew up knowing very little about him.
05:30After Driver learns about his bravery serving in the Royal Air Force, she starts looking into her grandfather, Charles Edmund
05:36Driver.
05:36While researching, the singer-actress is pleasantly surprised to find that she has the chance to meet someone from her
05:42late father's family.
05:43Hello, Eileen.
05:45My name's Minnie Driver.
05:47And, um, hello.
05:50And I, it's so nice to speak to you.
05:54She travels to Darlington to visit her second cousin, Jean Eileen Wiper, who shares fond memories of Driver's grandparents.
06:01Eileen is the first paternal relative she's ever met, and both are overjoyed to meet each other.
06:06Oh, look.
06:09That's it.
06:10It's Maud.
06:11That's my grandmother.
06:12That's Maud.
06:13So that's my grandpa's sister.
06:15Yes.
06:16Later in the episode, Driver also reaches out to another cousin over the phone.
06:21Kim Cattrall
06:22Kim Cattrall appeared on Who Do You Think You Are, hoping to solve the decades-long mystery of her missing
06:27maternal grandfather, George Baugh.
06:29He disappeared from Liverpool, England in 1938, leaving behind his wife and three daughters.
06:34When I said that I wouldn't go with him, I was going to stay with my mother.
06:39Then he just left.
06:41And you never saw or heard from him again?
06:44He then remarried and had more children.
06:47Cattrall meets George's sisters, Amy and Edna, who tell her about their older brother's selfish behavior.
06:52He also abandoned their family, and they never saw him again.
06:56But me father used to go out to the pub, and my mother would say to him when he went
07:01out,
07:01Don't mention Georgie. Don't mention Georgie.
07:05While George left so much pain in his wake, it's touching that Cattrall was able to meet her great-aunts
07:10and give her family some much-needed closure.
07:13Although it's not on camera, we're told her mother and aunts later connected with their half-siblings.
07:20Wasted so long to see the face.
07:23Well, now you have.
07:25Molly Shannon
07:26When SNL alum Molly Shannon was young, a car accident took the lives of her mother, youngest sister, and cousin.
07:33Losing my mom and my baby sister, it was like having the rug pulled from under you.
07:39Everything that you think is safe and that you know is suddenly gone.
07:42She also never met her maternal grandparents, Owen Keating, formerly Cadigan, and Mary Madden.
07:48Researching her mother's side takes Shannon to Ireland, where she meets two of her cousins, both named Katie.
07:53But we thought we'd like to introduce you to Owen Cattigan Sr.
08:00My great-grandfather. Oh my god.
08:04They share old photos and their memories of Owen, bringing Shannon to tears.
08:08Later, she meets with even more relatives who happily welcome her with open arms.
08:12My mother was your granny's sister.
08:16Is that right?
08:17That's right, yeah.
08:18This is crazy. I cannot believe it. I'm like, oh my god, I feel so overwhelmed.
08:22Given all she lost so early in life, Shannon learning about her loving, hard-working ancestors and meeting her kin
08:29is truly bittersweet.
08:31Blair Underwood
08:32Blair Underwood turned to Who Do You Think You Are to learn about his mother's ancestry.
08:36But he was in for a surprise on his father's side.
08:39What we found was a gentleman.
08:44Who's your cousin?
08:45What?
08:46After exploring his maternal family tree, the actor received the results from a DNA test he submitted,
08:52which revealed he had a paternal distant cousin in Africa named Eric Sanjowo.
08:56It was Underwood's dream to visit the continent with his father, and the two made the trip to Cameroon,
09:01specifically the small village of Babungo, where they were met with a celebration.
09:05Looking like family, for real.
09:10Wow.
09:13This is amazing.
09:14The episode ends with a joyous reunion filled with love and laughter.
09:19Rita Wilson
09:20Growing up, Rita Wilson's father, Alan, never talked about his past.
09:24After his passing, the actress, singer, songwriter wanted to finally uncover the details of his mysterious life.
09:30And so, I'm starting my search on Ancestry.com and see if we can find if there's any documents related
09:37to the village where he grew up.
09:40She travels to Greece, where he was born as San Halilov Ibrahimov, as well as Bulgaria, where he later lived.
09:47After some heartbreaking discoveries, she has the incredible opportunity to meet up with her father's 96-year-old half-brother,
09:54Ferhat.
09:55It's so nice to meet you.
10:01He's really happy that you're here to meet him.
10:05He tells her about reuniting with Ahsan at a labor camp, where he ultimately escaped while Ferhat stayed behind.
10:11It warms the heart that Wilson was able to connect with her uncle and find out even more about her
10:15father,
10:16even reading a letter he wrote after settling in the U.S.
10:19I just found out that America is on top of the Earth.
10:25That's about the best letter you could ever get.
10:36Before we continue, check out the single from Sound Mojo's album Balance, classical music reimagined as rock, hard rock, and
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11:02On Who Do You Think You Are? executive producer Lisa Kudrow's episode, she set out to learn more about her
11:08paternal Eastern European roots.
11:10Her father, Lee, recalled meeting a Polish cousin named Yuri Barudin when he was young.
11:14I'm looking at the door opening, and there's this guy standing there, young guy, in a uniform that I had
11:22never seen before.
11:23His name was Yuri Barudin.
11:25While visiting his family in New York, Yuri told them about the devastating Ilya massacre in 1942,
11:31which took the lives of 750 to 900 Jewish residents, including Lee's grandmother Mary Mordechovic.
11:38After that, Lee never saw his cousin again, and Yuri was presumed dead.
11:42He smiled, he patted me on the head, and that was the last I ever saw of him.
11:46And then somehow we heard that he died.
11:49Died doing what?
11:51Honey, I don't. I don't remember.
11:53While in Poland, Kudrow was shocked to hear that he is still alive.
11:57Seeing her meet Yuri and his family never fails to make us cry, as does the reunion between him and
12:03her father.
12:14Have you ever met a long-lost family member?
12:17Tell us about it in the comments.
12:18Tell us about it in the comments.
12:20Tell us about it in the comments.
12:20Tell us about it in the comments.
12:24Tell us about it in the comments.
12:24Tell us about it in the comments.