NEED TO KNOW
More stars are ready to explore their family history like never before on the upcoming season of Finding Your Roots.
The PBS series hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. will return for season 12 on Jan. 6, 2026, and PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the season’s lineup, which features a slate of A-list stars ranging from actors, musicians and athletes to comedians and businessmen.
There is also one celebrity guest who will appear on season 12 that is yet to be announced.
Spike Lee, Kristin Chenoweth and Brittney Griner lead the slate of guests confirmed to star on the upcoming season.
Along with Chenoweth, there are a host of other actors joining this season, including America Ferrera, Darren Criss, Tracy Letts and Lizzy Caplan.
The Bear’s Liza Colón-Zayas, 40 Acres’ Danielle Deadwyler, Love & Basketball star Sanaa Lathan and Delroy Lindo will also appear.
Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty; Gareth Cattermole/Getty; Heidi Gutman/Bravo via Getty
Chris Paul, businessman Barry Diller, The View’s Sara Haines and Hasan Minhaj are also on the list of guests for season 12.
Several musicians round out the cast: Lizzo, Wiz Khalifa, Flea and Rhiannon Giddens.
In a statement, Gates remarked on how the show’s core mission is unity in a time of increasing divisions.
“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,” he said in a press release.
“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,” Gates continued.
“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.”
Filling the guest slots on the long-running series is an easy feat at this point.
During season 10, Gates told PEOPLE, “We have a long wait list. We could do Finding Your Roots every week for a year and still not catch up with all the people we have on our waitlist.”
PBS
“Sometimes people contact us and ask if they can be in the series, and, often, they’re middle-aged people who have had children,” he said. “Before they have children, they’re not particularly interested. But once they have children, they want to know where they come from. They want to know who their ancestors are.”
There’s also an internal process on the show where the team can suggest stars who they think should go on.
“The other way is that we have huge whiteboards in our production offices, and we all just submit candidates,” he said.
“I might be watching the Emmys or the Grammys or the Oscars or go to a movie and say, ‘Hey, I heard this person. I heard they’re recording.’ Or, ‘I saw them in this film. I saw them on Broadway. Why don’t we ask them?”
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Finding Your Roots returns for season 12 on January 6, 2026.
