Comedian and actor Emily Atack is the latest celebrity to appear on Who Do You Think You Are? and she makes a bittersweet confession about her grandad’s death.
The Inbetweeners’ star knows she is from a long line of larger-than-life entertainers. Her mum is all-rounder Kate Robbins, and her uncle is comedian Ted Robbins.
Her fans will also know that Emily is related to the Beatles! Paul McCartney is Emily’s grandmother’s cousin (making him Emily’s first cousin twice removed).
Emily remembers fun days out with the McCartney family when she was little, and reminisces about how grandad Mike turned every opportunity into a comedy show. In Who Do You Think You Are?, she sets out to find out more about her showbiz genes…
And during the process, she makes a sad admission about her final moments with her grandad.
Emily Atack takes part on Who Do You Think You Are?
Thirty-three-year-old Emily Atack appears on season 20 of the popular BBC One show Who Do You Think You Are? While her family are mostly entertainment-loving comedians, she also discovers some hardships within her bloodline.
By following the family line up to Wakefield, Emily uncovers why her great-grandfather Bill fought so hard to get his family away from the pits. At Nostell in Yorkshire, Emily discovers a story of hardship, dangerous working conditions and struggles with mental health. The lives of her great-great-grandparents, Joseph and Emily Atack, still resonate with Emily over 130 years later.
Meanwhile, on her mum’s side, Emily discovers how her grandparents Mike and Betty both worked at Butlins in the 50s. Both became Redcoats, entertaining thousands of guests every summer with music and comedy.
Her journey takes her up to Liverpool, where Emily discovers that her family’s musical roots go all the way back to the brass bands of industrial Britain.
Great-grandad Ted Robbins ‘a hero’ to Welsh football fans
Following on from her musical discoveries in Liverpool, Emily then heads to Wrexham, in North Wales, where her grandad Mike Robbins grew up. There she finds out how her great-grandfather Ted Robbins was involved with the town’s football club.
She soon learns he was far more involved with Welsh football than she originally anticipated, and that he was considered a hero to Welsh football fans.
In fact, Emily breaks down when she learns how significant a role her great-grandfather played in the club. She learns that Edward, aka Ted, Robbins was the scourge of the English Football League in the 1930s, clashing with them for refusing to free up their Welsh players so they could play for the national team.
It was only because of his campaigning in his role as Secretary of the Welsh Football Association that Welsh-born stars playing for clubs in England could finally represent their country. This paved the way for the likes of future legends including Gareth Bale to become Welsh icons.
The link subsequently explains her grandad’s “obsession with Wrexham football club”.
Emily’s heartbreaking lie to grandad on his deathbed
Emily explains that her grandfather Mike Robbins was a die-hard Wrexham fan. Tearing up, she tells the camera: “It makes me understand now, my grandad Mike was obsessed with watching Wrexham. It was everything to him. I never knew the real reasons why.”
The actress then visits Wrexham Cemetery, where her great-grandfather Ted is buried. She says: “Me thinking sports and music are totally different things is wrong. They’re similar. It’s about being together, and getting through hard times. And feeling like you’re a part of something.”
Furthermore, she breaks down as she recalls her grandad’s death. She says: “When my grandad Mike was in the hospital, me and my sister were the last ones to hear his voice. I told him Wrexham had won that day. They hadn’t, but I told them they had.
“And it was almost like he went off peacefully after that. He slowly slipped away from there.”
Of course, football fans will know that Wrexham has been in the news recently, as a result of Hollywood superstar Ryan Reynolds buying the club.
Read more: Emily Atack reduced to tears as she learns of awful family suicide
Emily Atack appears on Who Do You Think You Are? on Thursday, July 06. 2023 at 9pm on BBC One.
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