It was another rollercoaster of emotions during episode 2 of The Secrets In My Family on the W Channel. This week, we had three cases of siblings either kept apart from each other, or fed lies by their families their entire lives. Crazy.
Here are 65 thoughts I had while watching this episode. To watch the highlights from the series so far, head to The Secrets In My Family.
1. Woah, what an opening. Chances of crying this episode? Very very high.
2. Right, so first off we have Trena who is looking for her missing dad.
3. What is it about missing fathers and this program?
4. Trena is one of five siblings, but only shares the same mum and dad with her brother, Laurence.
5. So far, Trena’s dad doesn’t appear to be too morally upright. He was living with another woman when he was seeing their mum. Smooth.
6. While Trena is keen as mustard to meet her missing father, her bro Laurence is not so keen.
7. Apparently, their mum thought their dad was a bit of a womaniser.
8. Sings to self: “Womaniser, woman-womaniser, you’re a womaniser….”
9. Weeeeee! Baby photos!
10. What physical features set the ‘charmers’ apart from the ‘non-charmers’ do you think?
11. Noses, I suspect
12. Am already starting to get the feeling that there’s a lot more secrets going on in this family than Trena and Laurence are prepared for.
13. This is one set of AncestryDNA results I am super nervous to see.
14. * Crosses fingers and toes that they really are brother and sister *
15. Now off to meet Gareth.
16. Gareth has two sisters, but their dad, Jeff, wasn’t around much when they were growing up. And when he was around, it doesn’t sound like he was particularly great company.
17. Years after Gareth found out Jeff had died, Gareth decided to try and find out a bit more about him by talking to his uncle.
18. Oooooh, music has just turned sombre… something serious is about to happen.
19. Wild! Gareth has three siblings he knew nothing about! A sister, and two brothers from Jeff’s previous three marriages.
20. Gareth wants to find them so, enter Dennis, genealogist consultant.
21. Ad break, and thank bloody goodness. My nerves need a rest and I need a cup of tea.
22. We’re back. And so is Dennis, who’s apparently working overtime by also helping Trena and Laurence look for their father in the public records.
23. They’ve identified his year of birth, which is a start, but now the siblings are worried their dad might have already passed away given his age.
24. Imagine not knowing whether you’ve been told the truth your entire life by your own mother?
25. “Let’s go for a drink.” Best idea you’ve had all day, Trena.
26. Good ‘ol Dennis has been able to find out some more info for Gareth about Jeff. Through public records, Dennis has found Gareth’s three missing half-siblings. Gareth is chuffed.
27. Meanwhile, after a chat with her older sister, Trena seems pretty confident that her dad was a good chap and that life would have been different if he’d been around.
28. Now we have Tony, who discovered when he was 11 that he was adopted.
29. He kept this information to himself for 16 years! I couldn’t last 16 minutes holding that in…
30. When the law around accessing adoption records changed, Tony was able to learn more about his biological parents and came across an entire family he never knew existed.
31. What!!? An ad break now, after that cliffhanger moment?
32. My oh my! So it turns out Tony’s siblings were full siblings, not half siblings, meaning his parents stayed together after he was given up for adoption.
33. More shocks! Turns out Tony was actually one of five siblings! Imagine going from being an only child to having four full siblings. Mind. Blown.
34. Woah, what!? Tony and Chris’ daughters were in the same grade, at the same school, and had no idea they were cousins. What a small world.
35. Well, that was a very nice story. I enjoyed that immensely.
36. Alex is back in London and true to form, I am coveting her coat and shoes.
37. Dennis hits it out of the park again! He’s tracked down Trena and Laurence’s dad, Clive.
38. Clive has agreed to take an AncestryDNA test to make sure he’s definitely The Clive We’re Looking For.
39. Back to Gareth and the team have managed to track down his half-sister Deborah, who, it turns out, knew a bit more than Gareth about Jeff’s mysterious past.
40. Two children and four years of marriage later, Jeff just upped and left Deborah’s mum? Like, have you ever heard of the word ‘responsibilities’, Jeff? They’re these things you have to have when you’re a fully fledged adult human.
41. Man, Deborah isn’t going to be able to keep her chill when she finds out she actually has two half-sisters. Oh, the joy that’s ahead.
42. Gareth’s other half-sibling Stephen, from Jeff’s first marriage, (we know… we’re barely keeping up as well…) lives in London.
43. And it appears Stephen is a bit groovy. Getting major groovy-vibes from Stephen’s waistcoat.
44. Weeee! All Gareth’s siblings are going to meet each other!
45. Oh man, it’s back to Trena and Laurence and I have a funny feeling there’s upsetting news on the horizon….
46. Aaaaaaaaaaand, I was right. Trena and Laurence are not full siblings.
47. WAIT!
48. WHAT?
49. STOP IT!
50. Laurence is Clive’s son, but Trena isn’t?!
51. Gobsmacked.
52. Poor Trena.
53. Get a cup of tea. Good idea.
54. Man, what a rough revelation for Trena and Laurence. And Alex! Imagine having to deliver that news to someone?
55. On a happier note, IT’S REUNION TIME for Gareth and his missing siblings!
56. Deborah just found out she has two sisters and I’m not going to cry. I’m not going to cry. I’m crying.
57. Stephen’s here and he’s wearing another snazzy waistcoat. Good to see.
58. Someone needs to get these people a drink.
59. Naw, they’re sharing old photos with each other and trying to put the pieces together. Speaking of pieces, I am physically in pieces watching these adorable guys looking all awkward with each other, but super happy to now know the other exists.
60. CRYING, YOU GUYS.
61. Trena and Laurence are about to meet Clive…
62. Oh, I kinda like Clive. Can totally see why he’s a charmer.
63. I feel so much for Trena. She wanted to meet Clive thinking that he was her dad, because all her memories of the way he loved her point to him being her dad. But he’s not her dad in the physical sense.
64. Which makes me think, what does being a father even mean?!?!
65. This show… honestly.
Interested in finding out more about The Secrets Of My Family? Read what we thought of Episode 1 or watch the highlights from the series at The Secrets In My Family.