*Season 12 of “Finding Your Roots” returns to PBS, with host Henry Louis Gates Jr. guiding celebrities as they uncover their ancestral stories.
As PEOPLE reports, stars including America Ferrera, Spike Lee, and Lizzo will explore the histories behind their family names when the series premieres on January 6. The trailer captures the anticipation and emotional weight of the discoveries, offering viewers both excitement and depth.
Lizzo describes one revelation as “scandaloso,” while Delroy Lindo reflects, “Pieces of myself are being filled in,” comparing the experience to completing a personal jigsaw puzzle. Emotional moments also emerge for Liza Colón-Zayas, who learns about an enslaved ancestor. “It breaks my heart, and I’m crying, not because it’s a total shock to me,” she shares. “It’s because now there is a name to this person.”
The surprises continue as Brittney Griner and Danielle Deadwyler discover celebrity relatives. America Ferrera exclaims, “Oh my God!” when she finds out filmmaker Ava DuVernay is her cousin.
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In the trailer, Gates presents detailed family trees, prompting Sara Haines to call it “the best gift I’ve ever been given.” Spike Lee declares, “This is one of the greatest days of my life,” while Barry Diller reflects, “If everybody did this, if everybody actually told the truthful stories, how different it would be.”
Gates has previously told PEOPLE that the show carries a dual message. “The first is that, despite all of our apparent differences — differences in race, gender, sexual preferences, color, ethnicity, point of origin — at the genome, we’re 99.9% the same.” He adds, “The second is that the greatness of our country was produced by the fact that we are a nation of immigrants, willing and unwilling.”
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: Regina King Learned on PBS’s ‘Finding Your Roots’ That ‘Pain Is Inherited As Well As Joy’ | Video
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