In this documentary from BBC Northern Ireland, presenter Owen O’Neill embarks on a journey to find out if the ginger gene really could become extinct, as he goes on a voyage of discovery of all things red haired.
Being a man of ginger hue himself he can appreciate how tough it can be to grow up with a carrot top. In this quest to save the Ginger Gene, Owen travels across Northern Ireland and over to England and the US to talk with prominent red heads. Included among these are famous ginger footballer Neil Lennon, ginger Royal correspondent, Nicholas Witchell and ginger gardener, Charlie Dimmock.
To find out a bit more about why the gene may be dying out, Owen asks celebrity
gardener Charlie if she finds her fellow red haired male attractive:
“You would be worried about getting too much grief,” Charlie
says: “I wouldn’t say I’m attracted to red headed men but
I’m not un-attracted to them. It wouldn’t upset me if someone
was red headed, but I can imagine the arguments, because we do have fiery
tempers.”
Owen also delves into the world of genetics and finds out why this fiery gene is diminishing. He chats with Professor Steve Jones from University College London, a leading geneticist who says that the red head is deteriorating due to ethnically mixed parenting, smaller families and the fact that many red heads are marrying people from outside their immediate area. In fact he argues that in a few short generations the Ginger Gene could be bred out of existence completely.
To spread the frightening news that the Ginger Gene may be no more, Owen travels to America to find out if people are worried about this phenomenon across the pond. He guests on ‘Good Morning America’, as well as meeting Paul Labrecque, a hairdresser who specialises in red hair and the Princeton Red Head Society.
Chief of Staff, Anne Margaret Daniel from the Princeton Red Head Society shares her views on how Gingers are represented, “I am really tired the way Red Heads are portrayed, in literature, in movies, in advertising. Now that I think about it, every off beat, quirky, venal, sadistic, bad-tempered and lascivious character is a red head.” However, hope in sight as Owen meets an expecting couple who will potentially give birth to a Ginger baby. Will they be the ones to carry on the gene?
Owen O’Neill says, “My ginger journey has been a very enlightening experience for me both from a historical point of view and a scientific point of view. Is the red head gene in danger of extinction? Well scientists seem to be divided about that, come back in 200 years and ask me. Are we an opposed minority? I don’t think so, but we are 1% of the world’s population which makes us different and makes us rare and I think that’d the way we like it.”