Finding Your Roots is back for another season, and the January 25 episode features Pamela Adlon. In our EXCLUSIVE preview, Pamela learns some astonishing news about her family from Henry Louis Gates Jr. She has an aunt that she never knew about!
“Pamela, your mother and Gloria Walthew Wood share about 25 percent of their total DNA,” Henry explains. “Plus, they share their entire paternal X chromosome.” This means that Gloria is her mother’s half-sister.
The Better Things actress begins to tears up over the revelation. “Your mom’s got a sister, and she’s alive and well. And she’s 83 years old,” Henry continues. A joyous Pamela says, “My mother’s gonna be so happy. She’s gonna be so happy.”
Due to the discovery of Gloria being the half-sister of Pamela’s mom, Finding Your Roots was able to identify Pamela’s mom and Gloria’s biological father, Joseph Walthew. Pamela is able to see a photo of her biological grandfather, and she is absolutely stunned. “This is just the best, wow. I’m so happy that I get to give this to my mom!” an excited Pamela says to Henry.
Pamela is gearing up for the fifth and final season of her critically-acclaimed series Better Things. Season 5 is set to premiere on February 28. The series also stars Mikey Madison, Hannah Alligood, Olivia Edward, and Celia Imrie.
Finding Your Roots is currently in its eighth season. The show explores the mysteries, surprises, and revelations hidden in the family trees of popular figures. In addition to Pamela, Finding Your Roots season 8 has a number of notable guests, including Erin Burnett, Amy Carlson, Terry Crews, Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Tony Danza, Kathryn Hahn, Anita Hill, Regina King, Nathan Lane, John Leguizamo, Damon Lindelof, Mario Lopez, Leslie Odom, Jr., André Leon Talley, Melissa Villaseñor, and Lena Waithe. The series airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on PBS.