Man left in bin as baby discovers former classmate was actually his half brother all along

Since Long Lost Family started in 2011, the ITV show has produced numerous heartwarming and jaw dropping moments.

For those unaware of the premise of the ITV classic, though the name certainly gives it away, Long Lost Family reunites family members who have been apart for an extended period of time or have never even met each other before.

Each person has their own individual story on why they want to find that lost family member, with many stories breaking the hearts of millions of Brits each week.

The latest instalment of the show, hosted by Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell, focused on Paul Connolly from East London.

Born in 1962, Paul spent his entire childhood in care after his mum suffered a breakdown that led to her putting 'him out with the rubbish'.

ITV

Paul was just a few weeks old at this stage, with a neighbour hearing his gasping cries as he sat in a bin.

As a result, the distressed neighbour called social services and Paul was subsequently put into care.

During the Long Lost Family episode, Paul is searching for his father's side of the family, following the only brief contact he had with his mother's Irish relatives.

While the hope was to find his birth dad, Paul devastatingly found out his father, Philip Psaila, also known as Pino, died in 1968.

Though, digging done by the researchers working on Long Lost Family found his father was a Maltese shop owner, which allowed the team to gather more information on Paul's back story.

As for his biological mum, Paul said she was 'embarrassed that I was illegitimate'.

“She had a tough upbringing and she had to do what she had to do to survive. It was probably the best thing she could have done really,” he added.

But both viewers and Paul were left stunned after discovering he has a parental half brother.

ITV

Not only that, but Paul and Frankie Peroni attended the same school in Essex at the same time, completely in the dark that they were brothers.

And in emotional scenes that aired on this week's episode, Paul and Frankie were finally reunited after all these years.

"Of course it is later in life that we've found each other, but at the same time, I think you've just got to be grateful for everyday," Paul told the cameras.

"I started out looking for my father and instead I found a brother. So the future is bright as they say."

Topics: ITV, TV and Film

Callum Jones

@CallumJ2709