Emma Willis left horrified after discovering violent ancestor was a would-be murderer on Who Do You Think You Are?

EMMA Willis was left horrified on tonight's Who Do You Think You Are? after discovering one of her ancestors was a would-be murderer.

The Celebrity Big Brother host took part in the BBC One genealogy programme and started to trace her roots back to Ireland.

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After initially being delighted to find out she had a 'gentleman' in her family in the shape of her five-times great great grandfather Richard Fowler, Emma's emotions soon changed when she heard more about him.

Sitting alongside a local historian, Emma read about an incident in a newspaper from 1797 where her ancestor and another man went to a house, broke open the door and got a father and son out of their beds.

Reading aloud from a newspaper article, Emma said: "On the very instant they appeared they were knocked down and received many desperate stabs".

The star's mouth dropped open in shock before she looked up at her companion, shock etched on her face.

Emma then read on, discovering that the two men stabbed the father and son again at the guard house before torturing the son.

Clutching her hand to her neck and taking a deep breath, she said: "That's horrific. Surely they can't or wouldn't have reported it if it were not true?"

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The historian then confirmed it probably was true, and that the case went to court and Richard was charged, but somewhat miraculously, the father and son weren't killed that night, sparing him a charge of murder.

Emma said: "It's hard to think he's a good man but there's so much going on it's hard to make sense of it."

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Then in a piece to camera after bidding farewell to the historian, she added: "I felt quite sick when I was reading it because it was so detailed.

"It didn't really leave much to the imagination.

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"It was so the polar opposite to what I expected and I was speechless to be honest.
"I come from - from what I know of - good people and I feel like I've found somebody who maybe wasn't so good in Richard Fowler."

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