Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Julia Roberts Floored After DNA Test Reveals She's Not Technically A 'Roberts': 'My Mind Is Blown'

Julia Roberts
Finding Your Roots/PBS

The Oscar winner found out about a generations-old affair on PBS' 'Finding Your Roots' docuseries.

Make us preferred on Google

Julia Roberts just found out she is not a Roberts at all and her "mind is blown."

The Oscar winner sat down with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on PBS' Finding Your Roots on Wednesday and got wayyyy more than she bargained for when she found out all kinds of family secrets.


Breaking down the star's family tree, Gates Jr. pointed out her great-great-grandfather Willis Roberts actually died before her great-grandfather was born...like more than a decade before.

Roberts then thought aloud:

"Oh, wait—but am I not a Roberts?!"

After scouring databases and coming up empty-handed, Gates Jr. revealed they relied on DNA to find an answer.

Using DNA from Roberts and a male cousin, Gates Jr. was able to narrow the results to one man: Henry McDonald Mitchell, Jr.

Roberts then asked:

"So we're Mitchell's?"

Gates Jr. answered:

"You're Julia Mitchell."
"You are not a Roberts, biologically."

You can watch the clip below.

Julia Roberts Isn’t ACTUALLY Julia “Roberts”?? | Finding Your Roots | Ancestry®youtu.be

Research revealed Mitchell himself was married when Roberts' great-grandfather was born. Coincidently, Mitchell's mother only lived a few houses away from Roberts' great-great-grandmother Rhoda.

Roberts' response?

"Wow."

Many viewers commented on how surprised Roberts' must have felt in that moment.

Ancestry/YouTube

Ancestry/YouTube

Ancestry/YouTube

Several had very similar stories—thanks to the availability of DNA collection, analysis and databases—and empathized with her.

Ancestry/YouTube

Ancestry/YouTube

Ancestry/YouTube

Ancestry/YouTube

Ancestry/YouTube

Roberts was torn:

"On the one hand, I—truly—my mind is blown. And it is fascinating."
"And on the other hand, there's part of me that, when I'm calmer, can still wrap my arms around the idea that my family is my family."
"And I do prefer the name Roberts!"

She finished:

"This was a very unexpected turn."

More from Trending

Annie Andrews; Darline Graham
Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Finn Gomez/Getty Images

Dem Candidate Has Epic Clapback After Darline Graham Tries To Insult Her With 'Socialist' Dig

Longtime South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham died in July of this year. At the time of his death, Lindsey Graham was running for reelection to a fifth Senate term as the Republican nominee after winning the June GOP primary with 56.8% of the vote against five other Republican candidates.

GOP Governor Henry McMaster appointed his sister, Darlene Nordone, to temporarily fill her brother's Senate seat. But if she wants to maintain her place in Congress, she'll need to earn it at the ballot box in November.

Keep ReadingShow less
Grace Helbig
@gracehelbig/Instagram

Comedian Grace Helbig Just Revealed Her Breast Cancer Has Spread To Her Brain—And Fans Are Applauding Her Humor Around It

Comedian and This Might Get Weird podcast cohost Grace Helbig has been open about her cancer journey since she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Now with a new diagnosis, she has no intention of dropping the honesty—or the humor.

In a lighthearted and humorous Instagram reel, Helbig shared that her breast cancer had "missed her" and loved being "in her body" so much that it had decided to spread to her brain, where things were usually "pretty funny."

Keep ReadingShow less
Tom Welling attends the "Chasing Summer" Premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

'Smallville' Star Tom Welling Offers Hilarious Reaction After Sharing Accidentally NSFW Selfie

Somebody saaaave Tom Welling! Although judging by what his Instagram followers saw, they might prefer nobody intervene. The Smallville heartthrob accidentally revealed more than the New York City skyline when a hotel window selfie took an unexpectedly NSFW turn.

Welling, 49, arrived in New York City for New York Comic Con (NYCC), reuniting with Smallville co-stars Michael Rosenbaum, Kristin Kreuk, and Erica Durance to celebrate the beloved superhero series' 25th anniversary.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kelly Clarkson
Stewart Cook/Getty Images for NATAS

Brooklyn Store Attempts To 'Clear The Air' With Kelly Clarkson After She Brands Them 'Liars' For Claiming Mechanical Bird Wasn't For Sale

A Brooklyn shop is in hot water after offending one of the seemingly nicest people in Hollywood, Kelly Clarkson.

The conflict ensued after Clarkson visited Brooklyn boutique Art of Play, where she says she was treated like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman for asking about the price of a mechanical bird.

Keep ReadingShow less
Travis Kelce; Shane Gillis
Carmen Mandato/Getty Images; Saturday Night Live/NBC

Travis Kelce Sparks Backlash After 'Liking' Video Of Shane Gillis' Misogynistic 'SNL' Monologue

Kansas City football player and Mr. Taylor Swift Travis Kelce is drawing backlash for liking a social media post of controversial comedian Shane Gillis' Saturday Night Live monologue in which he said women who wear workout clothes at the gym dress like "whores" and that everyone is either "Hitler or gay."

While people like Schitt's Creek creator and actor Dan Levy called out the misogyny in Gillis' monologue, apparently Kelce finds it acceptable in a time when people are asking what made 57 Ivy League men at Cornell decide rape is a group bonding experience and incapacitated women are party favors.

Keep ReadingShow less