Ross Kemp broke down in tears as he unearthed a family secret that he spent his whole life questioning on Tuesday’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? 

The actor, 60, is one of the stars taking part in the latest series of the genealogy documentary series.

And the latest instalment saw the star – who is arguably best known for playing Grant Mitchell in EastEnders – find out about his family history.

During his time on the show Ross was on a mission to find out about his mum’s side, including his great-grandad, who was known in the clan as Pop, who had 10 other siblings and lived in a pub in Portsmouth as a youngster.

Ross recalled a moment that his mum had told him that her dad had turned up at the door wearing a US uniform, and everyone ᴀssumed that he had been shipwrecked in the southern China sea, but the soap star found out exactly what had happened to him. 

The voice over explained: ‘On 11 July 1943 Pops troop ship the Duchess of York and her convoy were over 300 miles off the Portuguese coast when three German air force planes took off from France and headed towards them.’

Ross Kemp breaks down in tears unearthing family secret he spent his whole life questioning on Who Do You Think You Are?

The actor, 60 – who is arguably best known for playing Grant Mitchell in EastEnders – is one of the stars taking part in the latest series of the genealogy documentary series

Ross met up with historian Sarah Louise Miller and she told him that the ship was hit twice, her engines were put out of order and she ended up catching fire. 

As Louise explained what had happened, Ross became very emotional and wiped a tear from his face and she said although they were off the ship, they still weren’t safe.

Ross told Louise: ‘Sorry I’m getting emotional.’ 

‘It would have been a very scary situation,’ she told him.  

As his voice cracked, Ross asked: ‘But he survived, yeah?’ Louise replied: ‘He did survive.’  

The voice over explained: ’89 lives were lost from the Duchess of York that night. 

‘And the next day, her destroyed hulk was sunk to the bottom of the sea. Now in one of the escort vessels who rescued him… Pop was still a target.

‘He and the other survivors had little choice but to risk a 700-mile sea voyage to Casablanca, the largest nearby port under Allied control.’

During his time on the show Ross was on a mission to find out about his mum’s side, including his great-grandad, who was known in the clan as Pop, who had 10 other siblings and lived in a pub in Portsmouth as a youngster

Read More Andrew Garfield breaks down in tears at the grave of his ancestors who were ‘deemed so valueless’

After finding out the truth, Ross said: ‘I know it sounds like I’m smiling about the was shipwrecked, but I was questioning if that actually ever happened!’

He added: ‘It’s very odd. I make lots of documentaries around the whole about a lot of stuff but when it’s about you or your family, it has a very different impact.

‘It really does. Oh Pop, what a life he had.’ 

Speaking to the camera Ross said: ‘It’s such a complex feeling to think about somebody who I was told about all my life by my grandmother, and by my mother, had been this kind of interesting, traveler and there are similarities that I’m drawing from understanding him that I see in myself.

‘His life was all about him doing what he warned to do most of the time. 

‘So I’m finding out basically from my great grandfather, a lot about me.’

It comes after Andrew Garfield broke down in tears at the grave of his ancestors who were ‘deemed so valueless’ after harrowing revelation last week. 

Spider-man legend Andrew, who grew up between Los Angeles and London, was intrigued to find out more about his dad’s side of the family, who come from Poland.

During the episode, Andrew got very emotional when he visited a memorial grave site in remembrance of those who died at the Treblinka extermination camp near the village of Treblinka, Poland.

His Jewish great-grandfather Ludwig Garfinkel’s three sisters didn’t manage to escape and he placed three stones on a gravestone marked Kielce, which is where they were from.

Fighting back the tears, Andrew said: ‘This is a memorial stone for the Jews from Kielce that met their ultimate fate here in Treblinka, which my great-grandfather’s three sisters, we imagine, had to have been murdered. 

‘Szajndia, Dworja, Basia. Their lives were deemed so valueless and the Nazis attempted to erase even the memory of them, even their names, even any record of them.

‘And they had succeeded in certain ways.

‘They were just normal girls, they were just normal women who just wanted a life, they wanted to live, to thrive, but this journey that we’ve been on has recovered my memory of them and my family’s memory of them and I’m grateful for that.

‘I wish I had known you better, I wish you peace.’

Who Do You Think You Are? airs on BBC One and is available to stream on iPlayer.