Entertainment

West Ham fan Danny Dyer gutted to learn his ancestor had Tottenham Hotspur link

The EastEnders star got some bad news about his heritage.
The EastEnders star got some bad news about his heritage. The EastEnders star got some bad news about his heritage.

Die-hard West Ham fan Danny Dyer was horrified to learn that one of his ancestors had strong links to rival team Tottenham Hotspur.

Previously unseen footage from Danny’s Who Do You Think You Are? episode, in which he also discovered he was descended from royalty, shows the EastEnders star’s reaction as he uncovers an unwelcome truth in his family tree.

In a clip that was not included in the original broadcast, the actor went through a scroll of his family tree with one of the BBC programme’s historians, Peter Donoghue.

Danny Dyer
Danny Dyer
Danny Dyer (BBC/PA grab)

Seeing the name Sir Henry (Hotspur) Percy next to the dates 1364 to 1403, Danny said: “Nothing to do with Tottenham, please.”

Peter gently broke it to Danny that the football club took their name from his ancestor.

The historian said: “As you can probably guess, there is a link to Tottenham Hotspur, they took their name from Sir Henry (Hotspur) Percy because he seems to have owned land in that north London area the football club comes from.”

With a look of distaste, Danny said: “This is a double-edged sword for me, because I’m a West Ham fan.”

Shaking his head, he added: “That’s mad, that is.”

Danny discovered he was a descendant of Edward III and William the Conqueror during the episode tracing his family tree that aired in November.

:: Who Do You Think You Are? Live, the world’s largest family history show, is being held at Birmingham NEC from April 6 to April 8.