Ralf Little opened up about an “extremely painful” discovery (Image: GETTY)Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxMore Newsletters SubscribePlease enter a valid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.More NewslettersWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More infoThank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow me See OurPrivacy Notice See OurPrivacy Notice×Group 28 Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxInvalid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.Sign UpNo thanks, closeWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info×Group 28Thank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow MeNo thanks, closeSee our
Privacy NoticeRalf Little shared an “extremely painful” revelation about his great-grandad with fans on Instagram. The 42 year old Death in Paradise star got candid after delving into his family roots on the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?. The actor, who boasts a solid 192,000 Instagram followers, took to the platform sharing a snippet: “Probably the worst thing I learned,” accompanied by a laughing face emoji.
Ralf Little is known for appearing in Death In Paradise
(Image: BBC)
Speaking directly to his fans, Ralf disclosed: “So here I am having just discovered that my great-grandad gave up his international football career and renounced it all in favour of this,” while showing off a church’s interiors. Then, with his signature wit, he added: “Religion,” into the camera with a straight-faced delivery. Continuing his story, Ralf mentioned: “Now, not to disparage anyone’s beliefs, but I’m an atheist,” reports the Express. “And as an atheist who loves football, that’s extremely painful to me,” he added. On the popular genealogy TV programme, Ralf was thrilled to learn about his great-grandfather’s impressive footy skills and celebrated a historic game-winning goal. An emotional high point on the show saw Ralf beaming upon being shown an old team photo by an expert, exclaiming, “So here’s a photograph from your great-grandfather’s era,” prompting Ralf to spot the young athlete asking, “Oh, this guy?” Sign up to OK!’s TV newsletter to get updates sent to your inbox for free
The actor made a discovery about his great-grandfather on the BBC show
(Image: BBC)
His recognition confirmed, Ralf remarked: “Oh, you see I’ve only seen pictures of him from when he was about 40. But I guess he’s, what, 20 here?”. The expert confirmed the actor’s ancestor was quite the young sportsman. “So here he is about 20, yeah,” they said. They added: “He was a forward. In some press match reports he’s described as the centre-forward – goal scorer.” Ralf was shown a newspaper clipping of a match and read out loud, clearly impressed: “’25th March, 1894. Wales and border counties challenge cup final tie, Chirk v. Westminster Rovers’, what a headline!” Surprised by the scale of the historical game, Ralf remarked: “Wow, okay. This is quite a big cup final, then.”
Ralf discovered that his great-grandfather had been a successful footballer
But during the same TV show, Ralf was left fighting tears when he found out more about his granddad, Arthur – who was an air mechanic in the the second World War. A voiceover explained: “Arthur’s ship, HMS Indefatigable, was part of the British Pacific Fleet formed to help the US in its fight against Japan.” Ralf was stunned to discover that Arthur was on board when a kamikaze pilot hit his ship, with the voiceover continuing: “The pilot who hit Arthur’s shop, HMS Indefatigable, carried a 550lb bomb to inflict as much damage as possible. ” Reflecting on things, Ralf said: “What an amazing story about my grandad, that I had no idea about. I had no idea he had such a tough life, big life. He just faced hardship a lot and just took it and did it for the greater good.”Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnDeath in Paradise
