‘Deal or No Deal Island’ Host Joe Manganiello Says ‘Finding Your Roots’ Changed His Life

Joe Manganiello had such a life-changing experience on PBS’ Finding Your Roots that he’s continued to look into his ancestral past to learn more about where he and his family came from.

Speaking with Today.com, the Deal or No Deal Island host said his time on Finding Your Roots “opened up this whole world.” He revealed he’s “hired several historians” to carry on researching his genealogy and he’s continued “taking genetic tests.”

“I made my Ancestry.com and fleshed out the entire family tree. I started writing messages to people who were connected to me. I’ve found very, very close family members,” he added.

Manganiello’s episode of Finding Your Roots came with jaw-dropping revelations about his family tree. He learned that his maternal great-grandmother was an Armenian genocide survivor who became pregnant by a German soldier while in a refugee camp. On the other side, he discovered his paternal grandfather was of African descent and that ‘Manganiello’ shouldn’t actually be his surname.

“If I’m a tree, the tree has roots for the first time. It’s not gonna blow away. I know what it is and I know who the people were that were involved, and I know where I came from,” the Magic Mike actor told host Henry Louis Gates during the episode, per Today. “It’s really about understanding what I am a part of instead of wondering.”

Working with a German historian, Manganiello has continued to dive into his ancestry. He told Today that researchers uncovered a “handwritten family tree” that traces his German lineage back to his 11th great-grandfather.

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“I learned I had ancestors who fought Napoleon,” he shared, while also revealing he’s found out “without a doubt” who his biological grandfather was.

While Manganiello still identifies with his Italian heritage (he recently gained Italian citizenship), he said he now has a better idea of who he is and where he came from.

“I never knew what I was. I don’t look like anybody in my family tree,” he said. “I didn’t understand the ramifications of being a descendant of the Armenian genocide. There’s a real conversation about generational trauma and how that plays out.”

Finding Your Roots, Season 10, Tuesdays, 8/7 c, PBS