Chrissy Teigen learned she is of Roma descent in an upcoming episode of “Finding Your Roots.”
In TODAY.com’s exclusive clip of the Season 11 moment, the TV personality sat down with Henry Louis Gates Jr. to trace her family tree.
Teigen’s mother, Vilailuck “Pepper” Teigen, is from Thailand. But this revelation related to her father, Ron Teigen’s, side of the family.
Before delivering his team’s genetic findings, the host of the PBS series began to describe the Roma ethnic group.
“They’re traditionally itinerant people who lived all over Europe for centuries,” Henry Louis Gates said.
The Roma migrated from northern India into Europe about 1,500 years ago, according to a 2012 genetic study, NBC News reported. Today, most Romani people — a population of about 12 million in total — live across the European continent, including Romania, Turkey, Russia, Slovakia, Spain and France.
Then, Gates delivered the kicker: “You are part Roma.”
“Wow, that’s so cool,” Teigen said in response.
“What’s it like to see that?” Gates asked.
“I love it,” the 39-year-old said.
Gates said this explained some mysteries the show’s researchers had encountered about Teigen’s paternal ancestors, including their whereabouts and education history.
“These are your people. That’s why they were moving around so much. That’s why they were illiterate,” Gates said.
Gates told Teigen the Roma people developed their own language that originated from Sanskrit, the classical language of India.
“Generally they lived among themselves on the outskirts of larger communities or pursued an itinerant trade within those communities such as being a musician,” Gates said. “They traveled often, usually with families.”
The episode also illuminated the discrimination the Roma people historically faced, and continue to face. The Roma have endured persecution since their arrival in Europe, according to the Council of Europe, a human rights organization.
“It was rough to be a Roma. For centuries, they were discriminated against and they were even persecuted, just like the Jews were in Europe,” Gates said.
Nazi Germans targeted the Roma people in the 1930s and 1940s. According to the United States Holocaust Museum, the exact number of Roma people killed during WWII is unknown, but estimates range from 250,000 to 500,000.
Gates asked Teigen if she thought her relatives were motivated to move to the U.S. to “escape all the persecution” they experienced in Europe.
“Yeah, of course. I just … it’s so unreal,” Teigen replied, taking it all in.
Teigen previously made headlines for a story she shared about taking a DNA test and believing she had an identical twin.
After “spiraling,” Teigen’s sister reminded her that she had previously taken a DNA test for her “Finding Your Roots” appearance.
“My identical twin was myself,” Teigen said. “I was matching myself.”
Teigen’s episode, “Dreamers One and All,” airs Jan. 28 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on PBS.
More ‘Finding Your Roots’
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