Trisha agony over birth dad
TV’s Trisha Goddard reveals anguish at family secret
ANGRY Trisha Goddard has told how her mother never revealed her dad Peter was not her biological father – leaving her still searching for family members decades later.
In an emotional interview, the TV host said she thought “something is different” from the age of six and feels betrayed by her late mother Agnes.
Trisha, 63, said: “I felt very angry towards Mum. She could have told me.
“And there were excuses like I wasn’t ready, I wasn’t stable, then I was in the public eye and what have you.
“But I don’t think I would have judged her. It made a huge difference.”
Trisha was brought up by Agnes, who was born in Dominica, and dad Peter from Suffolk, who met as trainee nurses.
They had three other daughters who were all younger than Trisha.
Giving an insight into who her father may be, she said: “She told her friend it was just a fling at the West Indian Club. I’ve tried to track down that West Indian club.”
And Trisha, who has suffered from breast cancer, added: “I’d like to know for my health, like where my cancer comes from.
“I remember saying to Dad, ‘I look just like Mum’. And he said, ‘No, you don’t’. I was so different from my sisters. It affected me dreadfully in my life.”
She said Peter found out for certain when Trisha was three months old that he was not her biological father, but it was never discussed in the family until her mother was on her death bed. In 2017 Trisha attempted to track down someone she hoped could be her father based on a photograph of her mother with friends at a 1956 Christmas dance – but she is still looking for answers now.
On Life Stories, she also tells Piers Morgan about the racism she endured at school in Brentwood, Essex, and describes trying to take her own life after the birth of daughter Billie. Asked by Morgan how serious she was about ending her own life, she said: “Everybody is serious. There’s no such thing as a cry for help. To me it was about just not wanting to feel that pain. “What brought me back is my baby needed breastfeeding. And there was a nurse called Elaine. “And Elaine, if you’re watching this, you know you saved my life. People were talking about taking my children away from me and that would have been the end. “Elaine brought toys for Billie to play with. She allowed me to be a mum and she watched and she told me I was a good mum. “All the voices in my head that told me I was a failure and this one nurse was the one who got through to me.” Three-times married Trisha is best known for her self-titled talk show on ITV that aired from 1998 to 2004 before switching to Channel 5 for a five-year run starting in 2005.
She appeared on Dancing On Ice last year with pro Lukasz Rozycki. As well as her daughter Billie, now 30, she has Madison, 27. ■ Piers Morgan’s Life Stories is on tonight at 9pm on ITV.
Everybody is serious.. there are no cries for help
TRISHA GODDARD ON HER SUICIDE ATTEMPT