Doctor WhoStar Discovers He Wasn’t Raised by Biological Father on TV Show: 'Spun My World'

Mar. 15, 2025

John Simm attends the UK Special Screening of Disney+’s ‘Let It Be’.Photo:StillMoving.Net for Disney/Shutterstock

StillMoving.Net for Disney/Shutterstock

Doctor Whostar John Simm is recovering from a shocking family discovery.

While appearing on the U.K. seriesDNA Journey, the British actor, 54, learned that his late father Ronald Simm was not his biological parent following a genetic test that showed it was actually a man named Terry Smith, according to U.K. newspaperThe Telegraph.

“It spun my world, and everything I thought I knew, wasn’t real," said Simm about the discovery in a statement sent to PEOPLE. “It’s turned out to be such a massive thing in my life.”

The Yorkshire-born actor joined the series with hisLife on Marscostar Philip Glenister to delve deeply into their ancestral background — though he could never have predicted the revelation he would come across.

John Simm in Dr.Who.Adrian Rogers/ BBC/ Courtesy Everett Collection

Adrian Rogers/ BBC/ Courtesy Everett Collection

Simm’s musician father Ronald died in 2015. On the show, the actor learned that his biological father Smith also passed away and that he lived in the same area of Manchester, England, perThe Telegraph.

On the show, the actor shared that the revelations about his personal history also started before the show even started through a conversation he held with his mother before he took his DNA test.

John Simm and costar Philip Glenister.Piers Allardyce/Shutterstock

Piers Allardyce/Shutterstock

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In a strange coincidence, Simm also discovered that he regularly performed onstage with his father Ronald in the same nightclubs that his biological father frequented.

The episode concludes with Simm meeting a half-sister he never knew he had as she shows him photographs and videos of his biological father.

DNA Journeyairs in the U.K. on Oct.9

source: people.com