Each episode of Finding Your Roots sees a celebrity learn surprising facts about their family. In the latest hour, Saturday Night Live comedian Melissa Villaseñor joins host Henry Louis Gates Jr. to discover her family’s traces. Villaseñor became emotional when she learned about her great-grandmother’s birth, as seen in an exclusive clip for PopCulture.com, seen below. The episode airs on local PBS stations Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 8 p.m.
At the start of the clip, Gates explained that Villaseñor’s grandmother, Carmen de la Torre Muro, never spoke about her own mother, Mercedes Muro de la Torre. Villaseñor thought her great-grandmother’s story was lost to history, but the Find Your Roots researchers found a birth record from 1908. The records turned out to be Mercedes’ birth record from Aguascalientes, Mexico.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Villaseñor was completely stunned to see the document. “That’s crazy,” she told Gates. “It’s wild. It’s making me emotional.” Tuesday’s episode also includes Access Hollywood host Mario Lopez. The two stars’ families provide a personal look at the Mexican-American experience.
Villaseñor, 34, joined Saturday Night Live in 2016 and has made herself an irreplaceable impressionist during her time on the show. She’s performed impressions of Lady Gaga, Sarah Silverman, Kristen Wiig, Gwen Stefani, Nicole Scherzinger, Rachel Maddow, Sally Hawkins, Billie Eilish and Dolly Parton. She was featured in an episode of Netflix’s The Standups series.
Villaseñor and the rest of the Saturday Night Live cast have a few weeks off to rest thanks to NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics. The next new episode will air on Saturday, Feb. 26 with John Mulaney as host and LCD Soundsystem as the musical performer. This will be Mulaney’s fifth time hosting, so fans should expect a Five-Timers Club initiation ceremony. Mulaney has hosted at least one episode per season since Season 43.
Finding Your Roots launched in March 2012, with Gates joining a celebrity or other notable figure to help them learn about their family’s history. The show’s eighth season started on Jan. 4. Other celebrity guests this season have included Rebecca Hall, Lee Daniels, Anita Hill, Raul Esparza, David Chang, Brittany Packnett Cunningham, Pamela Adlon, and Kathryn Hahn. Future episodes this season will include Terry Crews, John Leguizamo, Lena Waithe, Nathan Lane, Leslie Odom Jr. and Regina King.
