On December 23, 1966 baby Chris was found in a telephone box on Kennings Way, Lambeth. Chris, now 57, has always wanted to know more about where he came from and the first episode of the new series of ITV’s Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace will see him finally get the answers he’s been looking for.
A few years ago Chris took a DNA test that revealed that he has both Irish and Italian roots. This would be the starting point for the Long Lost Family team’s investigation.
Prior to being told the team's findings, Chris tells host Davina McCall: “My only fear doing this show was that they'd say, 'We don't want to know.’” She then delivers the news that would change his life forever: blood relatives of his had been found.
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In the episode shown on Monday, June 26, show experts are seen following up the DNA matches, learning that Chris' mother Elizabeth was an Irishwoman who married a US airman and moved to Maine, USA. In this marriage, which the team learned was an abusive one, Elizabeth had two other children - Marie and Bobby.
In a heartbreaking revelation Chris discovers that Elizabeth passed away in 2008 aged 69. She was trapped in an abusive marriage and was an alcoholic. Upon finally meeting his sister Marie, Chris says: “I never dreamed it would happen.” Little did he realise the Long Lost Family team had another surprise for him - they’d also found his birth father.
Chris’ dad is Italian-born Dominic, who is now 79 and a businessman in Florida. Dominic had no idea his son existed until Long Lost Family matched up the pair’s DNA. “It's hard to explain what it's like to have the door opened and see someone who made you,” Chris says after meeting Dominic, who had a brief relationship with Elizabeth after she left her marriage.
After Elizabeth reconciled with her husband, he kicked her and the children out when he discovered she was pregnant. They fled to England where Elizabeth gave birth before returning to the US and her husband.
Chris says after meeting his new family: “I had two sentences about my life – I knew the telephone box, I knew the street and sort of the date. But now I could fill books. It's amazing, a big turning point.”
Long Lost Family airs on ITV1 and ITVX at 9pm on Monday, June 26. For more showbiz and television stories get our newsletter here.
