Four weeks into the competition, Krishnan Guru-Murthy has opened up about the “profound experience” that Strictly Come Dancing has had on his life.
The Channel 4 News presenter has revealed that he “cries all the time” after taking part in the show and has become “in touch with his emotions” again, as he shared that his wife thought he “might not have been happy” for the past 35 years.
Krishnan dove into the cryptic comment from Sunday night’s show on It Takes Two with his dance parter Lauren Oakley, and admitted that there might be some truth to his wife’s funny comment.
“It wasn’t a joke, to be honest. It’s been a genuinely profound experience,” he began, as Krishnan said Strictly made him “realise that you need something that you love in life” as a hobby outside of work.
“It’s quite easy at my age… You hit middle age and quite a lot of your life is about other people, it’s about work, it’s about your kids, and you don’t necessarily do stuff that you love.”
He continued: “And to do something that you love suddenly releases a wave of emotion and endorphins. I’ve turned into one of those jibbering old men wrecks who suddenly get in touch with their emotions and cry all the time!’
On the result show on Sunday, which saw Jody Cundy leave the competition, Krishnan said that Strictly had been “life changing” for him and even his family had noticed the difference.
He said: “My wife – we took the dog for a walk the other day – and she said, “We think you might not have been happy for 35 years and that you’ve just kind of discovered happiness” – and guyliner, obviously.”
In comparison to Strictly, Krishnan opened up about how serious he has to remain at work, when he’s reading breaking news on Channel 4.
“I think that there might be something in that because there’s something in the balance of great fun and greats seriousness, which is what I do the rest of the time, which allows you to be happy,” he added.
The journalist has been incredibly committed to his training for the BBC dance competition, even turning down major professional opportunities such as going to Las Vegas to interview U2.
“I was asked to go and interview them in Las Vegas last week, but I couldn’t because I was training,” Krishnan told Metro.co.uk, “But it just wasn’t gonna work because it would mean 20 hours on a plane and that’s just too much.”
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 6.35pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.