Ciara is of course married to football star Russell Wilson, but it turns out that’s actually not her only familial connection to the sports world: In a new clip from the PBS series Finding Your Roots, Ciara finds out that she is related to a former New York Yankees all-time great.
In the clip shared by Ciara on social media, Ciara turns a page of a book being presented to her, and when she sees what’s on it, she immediately looks up and exclaims, “What the world?!” The photo was of Derek Jeter, and host Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. explained, “That is your DNA cousin.” Ciara replied, “You are kidding me. Derek Jeter,” adding, “That’s crazy.”
In a voiceover, Gates explained Ciara and Jeter share a “long, identical stretch of DNA on their 14th chromosome, DNA which we know Derek inherited from his mother.”
Ciara wrote while sharing the clip, “The moment I learned @DerekJeter was my cousin! Crazy! Thank you @drhenrylouisgates for such an incredible experience! This was a dream come true to learn about my family genealogy!”
The episode aired last night (January 2), and in the same one, Alanis Morissette made a surprising discovery of her own, learning that she’s a distant cousin of actress Claire Danes (as Entertainment Weekly notes). She said, “I’ve worked with her before, I heart her so much. Now I’m about to explode into confetti!”
Watch the full episode here.
