Kristin Chenoweth, Darren Criss, & More Join FINDING YOUR ROOTS Season 12

PBS's Finding Your Roots has announced its Season 12 lineup, with a celebrity guest roster that includes Tony Award winners Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked), Darren Criss (Maybe Happy Ending), and Tracy Letts (The Minutes). Following its second consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nomination in Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special, the show will return on January 6, 2026. 

In Finding Your Roots, host and executive producer Henry Louis Gates, Jr. dives into ancestral history with the guests, using genealogical detective work and cutting-edge DNA analysis to trace their family trees.

“I am thrilled to announce another season of Finding Your Roots filled with inspiring stories from our wonderful guests that further show us that at the level of the genome, we are all 99% the same despite the forces that try to divide us, Gates, Jr. shared. "It’s especially important to all of us at Finding Your Roots that our viewers know, despite the loss of federal funding for public television, our show and PBS are not going anywhere. We encourage everyone to support PBS by becoming a member of your local PBS station if you aren’t already, and continuing to spread the word about the great work PBS is doing.”

Other guests this season includes actors Lizzy Caplan, Liza Colón-Zayas, Danielle Deadwyler, America Ferrera, Sanaa Lathan and Delroy Lindo; businessman Barry Diller; musicians Flea, Rhiannon Giddens, Wiz Khalifa and Lizzo; filmmaker Spike Lee; athletes Brittney Griner and Chris Paul; journalist Sara Haines; comedian Hasan Minhaj; and one additional celebrity guest to be announced.

Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Season Twelve is a production of McGee Media, Inkwell Media, and Kunhardt Films, in association with WETA Washington, D.C. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is the writer, host, and executive producer. Dyllan McGee and Peter Kunhardt are executive producers. Sabin Streeter is the senior producer. Natalia Warchol is the series producer. Deborah Clancy Porfido is the supervising producer. Kevin Burke is the producer. Robert L. Yacyshyn is the line producer. Sabin Streeter, Krista Whetstone and Natalia Warchol are directors.