As DI Sam Tyler in Life On Mars, John Simm found his world in a spin after waking up in the 1970s.
But the actor now faces a life-changing puzzle of his own – on learning that the man he idolised and thought was his Âbiological father, in fact, was not.
The revelation came after Simm, 54, took a genetic test for ITV‘s DNA Journey.
Ironically, he appeared on the show only to support his friend and fellow Life On Mars co-star Philip Glenister, 61, who played the brutal and politically incorrect DCI Gene Hunt.
The two men met 17 years ago when they became the actors behind the policing duo – and Simm said he only participated in the show so Glenister wasn’t on his own.
Philip Glenister (left) and John Simm (right) on ITV’s DNA Journey which will air on October 9
John Simm also learns that he has a half-sister Karen whom he meets on ITV’s DNA Journey
John Simm’s true biological father Terry Smith is pictured, as part of the DNA Journey episode
Simm said: ‘It’s turned out to be such a massive thing in my life and all I was doing was a favour for Phil so he didn’t have to do it on his own. It spun my world, and everything I thought I knew, wasn’t real.’
Leeds-born Simm started in the world of entertainment as a young teenager, playing guitar in a band alongside his musician father Ronald.
Ronald died in 2015 and talking about his grief, Simm once said in an interview: ‘When someone dies, you’re left with this huge black hole in your life.
‘People say, ‘You’ll get over it,’ but I don’t want to get over it. I always want to remember my dad. I’ve still got his number in my phone.Â
‘Every so often I see something on TV that I think he’d like and I pick up my phone to text him, still.’
On the fifth season of DNA Journey, he recalls a conversation he had with his mother before taking the test for the programme.
He said: ‘When they had me, in the Sixties, they were both young. They were together and then they split up and were both with other people and then they got back together and then they had me. And I’d never heard this story before.’
John Simm (left) appeared on the show to support Life On Mars co-star Philip Glenister (right)
John Simm (left) took a genetic test for ITV’s DNA Journey alongside co-star Philip Glenister
Philip Glenister (left) and John Simm (right) are friends and Life On Mars co-stars
After the DNA revelation, Simm considered pulling out of the programme but decided to utilise the experts on the show to find out about his biological father.
During the episode he is told that his biological father has passed away but discovers that he lived in the same area as Simm and would drink at the same working men’s clubs that he and his father played in.
‘The thing that blows my mind, me and my dad, we played around here loads of times, we definitely played here a lot and he might have been in the same pub one night and watched me play,’ he said.
‘I can’t get it out of my head, because we played this area in the 80s and he was here, and he was in working in men’s clubs. It’s one of those mad, Back To The Future, Life On Mars things.’
Father-of-two Simm also learns that he has a half-sister Karen whom he meets at the end of the episode and who shares memories with him about their biological father.
John Simm (left) and Phil Glenister (right) will appear on a new episode of ITV’s DNA JourneyÂ
Philip Glenister played DCI Gene Hunt and John Simm played DI Sam Tyler in Life On MarsÂ
John Simm and his wife Kate Magowan at an English National Ballet party in London in 2013
As well as Life On Mars, Simm starred alongside Dougray Scott in the TV adaptation of the novel Crime by author Irvine Welsh.
The ITV drama followed the exploits of troubled Edinburgh detective Ray Lennox – played by Scott.
Filmed in Edinburgh and Glasgow, the first series was broadcast in November 2021.
Simm played Gareth Horsborough, also known as Mr Confectioner, who was the main antagonist in both series.
The new episodes of DNA Journey will also feature Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston and James Nesbitt and Sarah Parish.
John Simm and Philip Glenister’s DNA Journey with Ancestry airs on Wednesday, October 9 at 9pm on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV PlayerÂ
