A family secret revealed: Wayne Rooney discovers Jewish ancestry before emotional Auschwitz visit

Football legend Wayne Rooney has revealed a family secret he only recently discovered: his maternal grandmother’s family were Polish Jews. The revelation came during his new Disney+ series The Real Rooneys, prompting a producer to point out that, under traditional matrilineal Jewish law, the Manchester United and England icon could himself be considered Jewish.

Rooney, who was raised Catholic, initially responded: “I’m Catholic.” But when asked whether he wanted to explore his newly discovered ancestry further, the former England captain laughed and suggested a title of his own: “Roo the Jew?”

The discovery emerged as Rooney, wife Coleen and their two younger sons traveled through Poland and visited Auschwitz — a place Rooney had previously visited with England teammates in 2012. Then, reflecting on the murdered children whose clothes and shoes remain there, he said: “I’m a parent and it’s tough to see what happened there.”

AuschwitzJewish heritageWayne Rooney