Rosario Monachino
Julia Roberts has made a discovery about her ancestry that has blown her mind.
The 55-year-old actress is best known for her roles in films such as Oceans Eleven, Notting Hill, and Pretty Woman.
She was one of the most recognisable stars of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
However, after exploring her family tree in more detail, Roberts was struck by an unexpected bombshell.
Find out more about Julia Roberts’ mind-blowing revelation below…
Appearing on the TV show Finding Your Roots, Roberts put her genetic makeup under the microscope in order to better understand her ancestry.
In the episode, an unfamiliar name crops up as she works back through her family tree.
Assisting her, ancestry expert Dr Henry Louis Gates Jr says: “The story begins with her great grandfather, John Roberts, and with his mother, a woman named Rhoda Suttle.”
Related Article: The Last Of Us Star Bella Ramsey Comes Out As Gender Fluid
Related Article: Lizzo Slams Body-Shaming Trolls In Bikini As She Says ‘This Body Is Art’
Not recognising the ‘Suttle’ name, Roberts is then shown a Douglas County, Georgia, census from 1880.
The census reveals some shocking information about her great-grandfather, John Pendleton Roberts.
In 1880, he was a toddler living with his mum, whose full name was Rhoda Suttle Roberts, along with his three brothers.
However, Gates tells the actress that John Pendleton Roberts’ father is missing from the census.
He explains: “Digging into Georgia County’s archives, we discovered that sometime in the 1850s, Rhoda married a man named Willis Roberts.
“Julia carries Willis’ last name, but Willis passed away in 1864, over a decade before Rhoda gave birth to Julia’s great-grandfather, John, leading to an inescapable conclusion.
“Willis Roberts could not possibly be your great, great grandfather. He was dead.”
The Notting Hill star, understandably taken aback, asks: “So am I not a Roberts?”
After going through all of the available records, no information about John’s father’s identity could be found.
With no birth or marriage certificates available either, Gates recommends that Roberts and her cousin should take DNA tests.
Gates says: “Julia and one of her father’s first cousins, a fellow descendant of John Pendleton Roberts, both agreed to take DNA tests.
Related Article: Simon Cowell Concerns Fans With Appearance As They ‘Don’t Recognise Him’
Related Article: Madonna Fans Alarmed By Star’s Disturbing New TikTok Video
“We then compared their results to people in publicly available databases, searching for matches, hoping to identify John’s father through the DNA of his descendants.
“In the end, we found a cluster of matches that tie Julia and her cousin to one man.”
That man went by the name Henry MacDonald Mitchell Jr.
Shocked, Roberts asks: “So we’re Mitchell’s?”
Gates tells her that technically, her name is in fact ‘Julia Mitchell’.
However, she admits that she prefers the name Roberts and intends to keep using it.
Do you have a story for us? If so, email us at [email protected]. All contact will be treated in confidence.
