'This is the best present could give my mum'

TOWIE favourite Gemma Collins solves a family mystery – and also discovers a surprising link to Jack The Ripper

- JEN PHARO

She's the most colourful of all the TOWIE stars and now Gemma Collins has discovered her ancestors were every bit as vibrant.

In the latest instalment of Who Do You Think You Are?, Gemma explores her mum Joan's family tree, which takes her to Dorset Street in East London, the scene of one of Jack The Ripper's murders.

"My family lived there!" says Gemma. "I truly believe my [great-great] grandfather was Jack The Ripper. He's got to be. He never got caught, did he?! It's unbelievable."

Not only did The Ripper kill one of his victims on Dorset Street, two others had links to London's "worst street".

Gemma, 43, has many emotional moments on the show as she tries to solve a family mystery.

Her beloved mum Joan, who has appeared on TOWIE with her daughter, was abandoned at a hospital as a newborn and placed in foster care. Growing up, Gemma has always been aware of her mum's heartache over being "not wanted".

Now with the help of the show's genealogists, she's discovered the truth about why Joan was separated from her mother and has brought the family "closure" after a lifetime of suffering.