TV doctor and real-life Scottish GP Punam Krishan is ready to don her sequinned scrubs for Strictly.
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Best known (unless you've needed medical assistance in Glasgow) for her regular appearances on the BBC's Morning Live, Krishan now teams up with longtime professional dancer Gorka Marquez for her Strictly journey.
But what's the prognosis for her health in the competition? It all depends on the first set of results…
There have been a few Morning Live presenters on Strictly before. Have they given you any advice?
Punam: Yes, lots! Helen Skelton, Sara Davies and Gethin Jones all keep saying to soak up every second, because it goes by too quickly.
There have been a few Strictly guest hosts as well like [judge] Shirley Ballas, and [former pros] Oti Mabuse and Janette Manrara. Did you get to know them before Strictly?
Punam: No, no, I've never met any of them. So it's going to be interesting. Just even for the launch show, we performed in front of them, and I just had a moment of just being utterly starstruck as I was in front of Shirley, and the nerves intensified.
I'm really excited to get to know them and hoping that they'll be kind with their feedback.
Why did you want to do Strictly?
Punam: I have loved watching it for as long as it's been on. It's a really incredible, feel-good, joyous show. I'm always doing things for everybody else – pleasing my parents, working for my patients, being a mother, a wife. I'm putting myself out there to try something completely different, for me.
It's worlds apart from what I'm used to. I spend my whole week either in scrubs, leggings or joggers. Working in the NHS can be quite stressful, so this is the perfect antidote to that, to decompress and have some fun.
Punam and Gorka. Yoshitaka Kono
How did your friends and family react when you said you were doing the show?
Punam: My mum, who's a medical receptionist, was hilarious, because she's quite traditional Indian. When I first told her, I felt about 10 years old, as if I was asking her permission.
She asked, "What has this got to do with medicine?" And I said, "Absolutely nothing, and that's the whole point!" I was met with an interesting stare for a couple of minutes, but since then she’s been really on board.
She's so excited now, all her friends are buzzing. I'm very excited for her to come and watch one of the live shows. My kids are ecstatic, and all the school is very excited.
So yeah, I've got a lot of love and support behind me, and everyone's rooting for me, and I think that that just propels me to just do my best.
Gorka, how's the training going?
Gorka: Some days, it's like in The Karate Kid with Mr Miyagi: "Wax on, wax off." Punam will wonder, "What am I doing this for?", but it will make sense in the long run.
Like, sometimes you say, 'Why do we have to move our bodies our way?' And I'm like, 'I don't know it's just the way it is!' I think she has a lot of potential, and we would love to go as far as we can.
Punam: I'm just going to try my absolute best. And I think that that's all I can do. And I just want to learn to dance, so I can do justice to him, and, yeah, just get as far as I can possibly get.
A condensed version of this interview appears in the latest issue of Radio Times.
Strictly Come Dancing continues at 7pm this Saturday on BBC One and iPlayer.
Laura Rutkowski is the Junior Commissioning Editor at Radio Times magazine, where she looks after a column called "What it's like to…", which spotlights behind-the-scenes roles within the TV and film industry – from stunt coordinators to costume designers. She loves finding out how productions are made and enjoys covering a wide variety of genres. Laura is half-American and half-British and joined Radio Times in 2022. She has a degree in Psychology and a Master's in Magazine Journalism.
