How ‘Harry Wild’ Played a Role in Jane Seymour Hosting ‘Relative Secrets’

“Every family has a history that they don’t necessarily know, and these are all pretty dramatic ones,” says Jane Seymour, host of Acorn TV’s first unscripted series, Relative Secrets, which investigates the darkest ancestral mysteries of everyday American families. It’s the second original project on the streamer for Seymour, who stars as a literary professor turned detective in comedy-drama Harry Wild, which has just been renewed for a fifth season.

The June 2 premiere (available to stream) pulled us in with the tale of a woman in West Virginia who is the daughter of a serial killer, Robert Carr. Until her father was caught when she was 12 years old, young Donna lived out of the family car with her mother, brother, and father as the deadly dad moved them from state to state. Donna was desperate to dig into her family history to see if she could find an ancestor of whom she could be proud.

“It’s very brave of them to trust us,” says Seymour of the families. The actress oversees each investigation while archaeologist Natasha Billson (The Great British Dig) combs through historical documents on the ground. In Zoom interviews with the subjects, Seymour, whose role on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman made her a favorite of American TV audiences, is empathetic and honest, sharing details about her own family history.

“My parents were the generation that survived World War II,” says the actress, whose mother was held in a prisoner of war camp. “How do you get past the atrocities and move forward in life? Some of my family’s friends were not able to, some didn’t survive. Others, like my parents, put a barrier down and said, ‘That was then, and I’m going to live in the present moment and the rest of my life.’”

Seymour explored her ancestry in a 2015 episode of Who Do You Think You Are and had served as a TV host for royal wedding coverage, but it was “playing a detective in Harry Wild that made me interested in being the host of a genealogical detective show,” the actress told us.

There are just as many twists in the real-life mysteries coming up. The June 9 hour centers on a guilt-ridden 99-year-old WWII veteran who suspects that his neglect led to his grandmother’s possible murder. On June 16, a Texas family looks into their outlaw ancestors. The fourth and final episode on June 23 concerns the scintillating tale of a Philadelphia mother who abandoned her three young kids 70 years ago. Was she murdered? Or did she start her life all over?

“Not only is it a mystery within their family,” says Seymour, “but the audience is getting insight into what that world was like and what was happening at that time in history.”

Archaeologist Billson combs through newspaper archives and visits the still-grieving adult children to take DNA samples and help them compare photos of a mystery woman to old pics of their long-lost mom. Ultimately, the family gets answers. “When you’ve been abandoned and then find out why,” Seymour says, “it gives you a better way of having closure.”

Relative Secrets, Mondays, Acorn TV