Channel 4’s latest documentary saw adventurer Ed Stafford coming to terms with his gypsy heritage despite presenting prejudicial views towards the community.
In the documentary, explorer Ed, who holds the Guinness World Record for being the first man to walk the length of the Amazon River, spends time with Romani gypsies and Irish travellers across the UK.
However, as he learned more about the community, he reflected on his former ‘negative’ personal views.
During the documentary, Ed said: ‘When I think about gypsies there is an element of fear.
‘Rightly or wrongly, gypsies are linked with crime, going outside of the law and it is daunting going into that world.’
The 46-year-old revealed he changed his initial perceptions during filming, after he discovered an ancient culture, with multi-generational families living in the great outdoors who struggled to survive against an unwelcoming society.
‘I was naive,’ he added.
‘All I knew about gypsies was negative or hearsay.
‘Like a lot of people, I had prejudices, but it is so difficult to live as a nomadic person in the UK.’
During the annual fair, which attracts around 10,000 gypsies and travellers and 30k visitors, Ed was introduced to Sherrie, who decided to Google him and was surprised to learn his name is Lovell – a common gypsy name.
The dad-of-three, who lives in Leicestershire, expressed that his explorer wife Laura Bingham, suspected it all along.
‘She just had an instinct that I was a gypsy,’ Ed said.
‘I was really interested because I had felt quite a connection to the community.
‘Suddenly, when I recognised that there was a possibility that I did have ancestral gypsy blood, I decided that it was a good thing to look into.
‘The production team found an ancestry gypsy lady to dig into my history and find out where there was any truth in this.
‘People don’t often realise that gypsies and travellers are an ethnicity, it’s a bloodline not a lifestyle. We should be more accepting.’
60 Days With The Gypsies is available to watch on All4.
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