Former EastEnders star Joe Swash traced his heritage on the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?
- features on Who Do You Think You Are? , eager to delve deeper into his ancestral history. After learning his great-great-grandfather once spoke on stage with activist Sylvia Pankhurst, he said it was "a total surprise".actor open up about losing his 39-year-old father Ricky at just 12 - an event that profoundly shaped his childhood, reportsHe shares: "My house was full of life and life.
And then, when my dad died, for a long time, it was a house full of sadness and grief. So, you know, a lot of the time it was just trying to get through that period.
"Growing up in London, I was quite vulnerable, not having a father figure, and I had dyslexia and ADHD that wasn't diagnosed, so I do struggle when I read something, and a lot of the time I was misunderstood as being quite naughty and mischievous. " Joe credits the "strong women" around him for keeping him grounded, noting that he possesses certain "Italian traits," such as being emotionally expressive.
His mother, Kiffy, reveals that his paternal great-grandmother's lineage traces back to Italy. Initially, Joe's knowledge extends only as far as his grandfather Charlie, but he learns about other relatives, including great-great-grandfather Giuseppe Raimo, who travelled from Italy to London, climbing from humble beginnings as a street entertainer to becoming a skilled maker of street pianos.
Joe reflected: "It really does fill me with a great, great deal of pride to think that he was struggling through life anyway, being Italian, living where they were living, but he still was concerned about what was happening in the world and fascism, so he must have been a man with great moral compass, someone that really stood by what he thought.
"I had so much pride when I found out about him. The journey he went on, the morals and the things he stood up for, the people he rubbed shoulders with, and the way he got out and worked through poverty to make himself and make his family's life better, just shows real tenacity.
"Learning about his speech was emotional, it was a total surprise. I think in that moment I felt really close to my relatives, to Giuseppe. It was such a lovely thing to find out.
" Contemplating his discoveries, Joe shared: "For a lot of my life, I've never really known who I am, what I am, where my roots are. I don't know if that's due to losing my dad at a young age, but being on his journey, it really has sort of like galvanised who I am, where I'm from, the people that made me, how strong they are, they never give up.
Hopefully, a bit of that tenacity has come down the line to me. "
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