BEST FOOT FORWARD 'Strictly is like therapy on steroids - you learn so much about yourself'

Broadcaster Krishnan Guru-Murthy reveals how dancing on the hit BBC show has made him grow as a person, despite missing his family

- JEN PHARO, KATIE BEGLEY

Striding across the Channel 4 News studio to interview government ministers on live TV, Krishnan Guru-Murthy exudes fearless confidence. But bedeck the broadcaster in sequins and ask him to dance live on Saturday night television, and he turns to jelly.

“I haven’t felt nervous since I was a kid,” confides Krishnan. “Those feelings of nerves that I’m suddenly getting now, I’m just not used to dealing with that. Nerves are destructive.”

Nerves might be destructive but Krishnan, 53, and his professional dance partner Lauren Oakley, 32, have already mastered the Charleston, the foxtrot, the paso doble and cha cha.

Krishnan signed up to learn to dance because “you only live once”. Since he stepped onto the dance floor, he’s discovered Strictly Come Dancing is about more than just fancy footwork, extensions and appropriate facial expressions. In fact, he’s found the process is like an intense form of personal therapy.

“You learn a lot about yourself doing Strictly — that’s the big surprise,” he says. “Strictly’s bigger than you expect in every way — its impact on you physically, psychologically, emotionally. People say you learn a lot about yourself, and I never understood what they meant. You’re just dancing! But you do, because it’s an emotionally exhausting process, and you’re doing things you’re not always comfortable with. You’re spending a lot of time under stress.”

As a result, Krishnan has learned not to sweat the small stuff and to push himself out of his comfort zone and then some.