Rosie O’Donnell never thought about tracing her roots. Her mom died at an early age when Rosie was only ten years old and her family never talked about it again. So when Lisa Kudrow and producers from NBC’s “Who Do You Think You Are” came to her and asked her if she wanted to trace her ancestry she decided yes, that this would be a great opportunity to find out about the mother and woman she never knew. About taking the journey and what was most shocking Rosie said, “It was emotionally exhausting but I feel so much closer to my mom now after taking this journey. And what shocked me most was the amount of suffering my ancestors endured and the difficult childhood my mother had.” Miami loving Rosie, who would love to spend more time there will be 49 in March and told me, “I hope people will look into ancestry.com and take the journey because it really opened up the lines of communication with my brother Eddie and I, who was the only one who really remembered things about my mother, as well as with the rest of my family.” Rosie told me she gets back to her hometown of Long Island sometimes to visit friends and her bother Eddie, (pictured) who Rosie takes along for the journey on the show. Rosie is also excited to get back to TV with her new show on Oprah’s network OWN later this year which will be a one hour, single topic similar to ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show.’ Why did Rosie decide to come back now? “Because Oprah asked, period. Oprah is an epic talent and it was an honor to be asked and I can’t wait.” Check out Rosie Friday, February 18th at 8p ET on NBC when she traces her mother’s Irish roots and travels to two countries to find out about the mother who was always a mystery to her.
Was she nice?
Yes and cool