Lewis Capaldi: who is the ‘Wish You The Best’ singer’s famous relative?

Lewis Capaldi is related to a famous Doctor Who star

It’s no coincidence that Lewis Capaldi shares his last name with a famous Doctor Who star because Peter Capaldi, who portrayed the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor, is in fact related to the ‘Wish You The Best' singer. Lewis and Peter, both born in Glasgow, are second cousins once removed, with Peter being Lewis’ dad’s second cousin. 

In a 2018 interview with the Daily Record, Lewis confirmed that he and the Doctor Who star were related. "My dad and my aunties told me we were related to Peter a while ago," he said at the time. "I think he’s my dad’s second cousin. Whenever he came on the TV they’d always say, 'You’re related to Malcolm Tucker' or 'You’re related to Doctor Who.'"

However, despite knowing of their relation, Lewis said that he nor his family had met Peter. That was until Lewis’ agent mentioned Peter had been in touch and wanted to meet him at one of Lewis’ early London shows. 

The singer agreed to the meeting, and the pair was introduced to one another backstage at the concert. Lewis said: “He came backstage afterwards to say hello and we had a great chat.

“We talked a bit about the family connection and he said he really liked the music, so that was really nice of him. He’s a really cool guy. It’s a big inspiration to have someone who’s so successful in the family.”

Lewis Capaldi performs at PRYZM Kingston (Photo by Shane Anthony Sinclair/Getty Images)

Lewis and Peter’s relationship continued after their introduction, as Peter appeared in the music video for Lewis' hit single ‘Someone You Loved.’ The video was made in partnership with the charity Live Life Give Life to raise awareness for organ donation.

Lewis said: "We were at the record label and I was explaining what I wanted to do to raise awareness with this video. Very flippantly I was like, 'We could ask Peter Capaldi'.

"My manager had his email from when he came down to the show last year, he emailed and literally the next day, my manager gets a phone call from Peter saying, 'Mate, I’d love to do this, send me over the script, I’d be honoured to be involved'."

Following their collaboration on the music video, Peter said: "Lewis is an amazing talent — I’m not just saying that because of his name — Capaldi or not, he’s remarkable," Peter explained at the time. He added "And I was happy to draw attention to organ donation." 

Since starring in the music video, Lewis and Peter have not shared many public interactions, but Lewis did express his enjoyment of working with his distant relative, saying: "It was such a massive honour getting to work with him and director Phil Beastall over the two days we shot. He’s absolutely incredible in the video and I’m so proud of how it turned out."