Jack Whitehall discovers great-great-grandfather went mad and died from Syphilis
Jack Whitehall will appear on Who Do You Think You Are? (Picture: Rex Features) Comedian Jack White..
Comedian Jack Whitehall has discovered his great-great-grandfather contracted a sexually transmitted disease that eventually killed him and his wife.
Well thats going to put a grim spin on the family tree.
The Queens Corgi star made the shocking discovery while on Who Do You Think You Are?, appearing alongside his father Michael for a soon-to-be-aired episode.
According to The Sun, the comedian was initially amused by the story of ancestor Richard, going so far as to call him a bit of a shagger.
However that comment perhaps took a bit of a turn when the father-son duo discovered the true reason behind his death – a bout of Syphilis he ended up passing onto his wife, Caroline, which eventually killed both of them after they went mad.
The family apparently passed down the story that proposed he died in a pony and trap accident and his wife was killed by grief.
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Jack was then informed his suddenly-orphaned great-grandfather inherited the equivalent of £10million following the harrowing deaths of his parents.
During the show – which is set to air 5 August – Jack and Michael also discovered another relative in the 19th century was a Welsh Tory lawyer who was hellbent on stopping rival Whig supporters voting.
And thats something Jack wasnt too impressed by.
Turned out his great-great-great-great-grandfather, Thomas Jones Phillips, was apparently responsible for the arrest of pro-democracy campaigner John Frost who was leading the Newport Uprising.
Not too crash hot on this information, Jack said on hearing the news: Its pioneering scumbaggery — Id rather he had syphilis.
He also joked the man seems the sort who might burn down an orphanage.
Jack isnt the first celebrity to find out something shocking about an ancestor, after Daniel Radcliffe was informed his grandfather died by suicide.