'I wish they would throw in a ceilidh': Scottish GP joins Strictly

“And you know, people will send you the footage, and I’m thinking - hmm, in my head last night I was Beyonce, but this looks very much like a car crash…”

She adds, with a roll of her eyes: “I really hope I can become a bit more of an elegant dancer…..”

Punam is taking the plunge, diving twinkletoes first into the world of Strictly Come Dancing, as the BBC's glittery, global hit celebrates its 20th anniversary.

As a Glasgow GP working in the city’s East End, Punam's day job is about as far removed from foxtrots, feather boas and fake tan as it is possible to be.

Punam is no stranger to television - she is resident doctor on BBC’s magazine show Morning Live; she was the hard-hitting doc delivering difficult news to patients in reality show Laid Bare, and she has appeared on The Weakest Link.

During the pandemic, Punam was a health columnist for our sister title The Glasgow Times, and she has also written a children’s book, How to Be a Doctor and Other Life-Saving Jobs.

Dr Punam Krishan with her children's book, How To Be A Doctor (Image: Newsquest)

Making it to the giddy heights of Strictly, however, is the unexpected realisation of a long-held fantasy.

“It’s been a dream for so many years,” she marvels, taking time out from rehearsals to speak to The Herald.

“When I got the call, I genuinely thought it was a prank. I kept saying, is this a joke? Is this actually happening?”

She adds: “And that was followed by about 10 minutes of the ugliest crying I’ve ever cried. I was just so excited, and grateful.”

Dr Punam Krishan (Image: Newsquest)

Negative stories have been swirling around Strictly in recent months, including allegations of abusive behaviour in the training room. The BBC has insisted it has robust duty of care procedures, which it has bolstered with a series of new measures including giving stars chaperones in rehearsals.

Did the saga playing out in the media affect Punam’s decision to to get involved?

“No. Not at all,” she says, firmly. “I watch the show every year, with my little boy, and Strictly for me is cosy nights, permission to just relax and get lost in the magic of sparkle, glitter, dancing…

“That is what the show means to me, and the press and negativity haven’t even remotely affected that."

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She adds: “My job is really intense, so I look forward to those Saturday nights. To be able to jump off the sofa into the telly box feels like an absolute moment I can’t wait to savour.”

The mood in the training camp, where Punam joins a cast which also includes singer Toyah Willcox, Love Island alumnus Tasha Ghouri, EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick and former England and Arsenal footballer Paul Merson, is upbeat, she adds.

The Strictly cast of 2024 (Image: Ray Burmiston)

“I had the first day nerves, as anybody would,” she admits. “We were all like excited children on the first day of school, but when we first got together I was blown away by just how much excitement and joy was in the room. Everyone was there to dance.

“There’s been nothing but positivity and lots of support.”

Punam’s TV pedigree may be in the bag, but how is her dance experience?

“Zilch,” she says, cheerfully. “Anyone that knows me knows that I am always first on the dance floor and I dance in the kitchen with my kids but while I love it, I know I’m absolutely rubbish at it.

“It feels like a very different world I am about to enter, going from a very academic headspace, where my job is very controlled, and a lot of pressure, to having the opportunity to learn a new skill, something I have always wanted to do."

She adds, fervently: "I just really want to learn and do well.”

Punam is ready to embrace both Latin and ballroom, although she wishes “they’d throw in a ceilidh,” she says, grinning.

“Could you imagine? I’m looking forward to salsa. I can’t salsa, but it looks fun to learn. The one I really enjoy watching is the paso doble, love that, and the Argentine tango - both of them are intense, dramatic, fiery…I think they’d be amazing.”

Punam grew up in the East End of Glasgow, attending Hillhead Primary and Notre Dame Secondary which, at the time, was an all-girls state school, before studying medicine at the University of Glasgow.

Her parents, who moved to the city from Punjab in India in the 1970s, ran the local corner shop.

'Strictly is permission to relax and get lost in the magic of sparkle, glitter, dancing…' (Image: free)

“We didn’t have a huge amount when we were growing up,” recalls Punam. “My dad worked in the shop, and that’s where all my childhood memories are, really. We’d start the day before school there, we’d do the paper round, we’d be back there after school….

“We stayed in a wee tenement flat with my parents, grandparents, uncles, aunties and cousins. It was colourful.”

Every summer holiday was spent in Punam’s mother’s home city of Kapurthala, allowing the young girl to stay “connected” to her Indian heritage.

It was not always easy, however, being the daughter of first generation Scottish Indians in Glasgow.

In her Glasgow Times column, she spoke about the racism and abuse her parents experienced.

“Watching that as a child was really upsetting,” Punam wrote. “They never said anything back. They just served. I didn’t see us as being different but when I would look at the papers and magazines on the shelves, it would hit home - we were different.”

She is now bringing up her own children – a son, 11, and a daughter, four - in the city, but says things have changed dramatically.

“I was the odd one out growing up. I remember the ache, of just wanting to fit in,” she says, simply.

“And I don’t see that in my children, which is beautiful. They have incredible circles of friends and they just don’t see any difference.”

She adds: “Glasgow is mixed, it’s beautiful, it’s inclusive, and I think we have come a long way.”

Medical school was her parents’ dream, for both Punam and her sister, she says.

“My mum always used to say education was going to be our key to freedom,” she says. “She was really young when she got married and she just wanted us to stand on our own two feet.”

Punam's original plan was to be a writer, inspired by sorting out newspapers in her dad’s shop.

“I was fascinated, always looking out for which journalists were reporting the stories of the day,” she said in her column. “Medicine was my parent’s dream for me before it became mine; my first dream was to write in a newspaper someday.”

Medical school however, was where Punam was “destined to go,” she says.

“The imposter syndrome when I got there, though…it was massive,” she groans. “I was just this girl from a state school…I had to work in Domino’s and a nursing home while I studied.

“I wasn’t a classically clever kid, I didn’t do very well in my exams.”

She adds, wryly: “I didn’t like following rules when I was little.  I remember one year, after I’d done particularly badly, my mum threatening to send me to India to live with my grandfather because I just wasn’t listening to her…

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“I couldn’t quite believe it when I became a doctor. I wouldn’t change it for the world, though, I love my job.”

Her parents instilled in her a strong work ethic, she says.

“My dad only ever took Christmas Day off,” Punam nods. “I love being a GP, I love people and communities, and I realise the shop is where a lot of that came from.

“Everyone comes to the corner shop, so you’d get to know people, and their stories. My mum and dad worked really hard, and they did everything they could to make sure me and my sister – who is also a doctor - had a good education and a good go at life.

"I owe everything to them.”

Punam smiles as she recalls her mum’s reaction when she told her about Strictly.

“Even though I’m 41, I still felt like I was a teenager, telling her, ‘mum, this opportunity has come up, and I REALLY want to do it,” she says, with a sigh.

“And she was like, ‘yes, and what has this got to do with medicine?’”

Punam laughs. “I groaned and said, well, nothing, but I just want to go and have a bit of fun and do something that’s just for me….”

The whole family is now “cheering from the sidelines”, says Punam.

“They are very proud,” she says, smiling. “It is a bit out of the comfort zone for Indians, you know. It’s certainly not something that’s been done in our community.

“I’m nervous, not going to lie – there’s a whole load of things bubbling up to the surface.”

She pauses.

“But I want my own children to see that you can step out of your comfort zone, and do something that feels much bigger than yourself,” she adds.

“It’s unknown territory for me but it’s also an incredible platform. I didn’t see a lot of Indian girls on national British TV when I was growing up and representation matters."

Punam's children are her “biggest cheerleaders”, she says.

“My daughter is only four, so she is just excited about sparkly dresses, but my son and I have watched Strictly every year – he actually said to me once, ‘I think you’ll do that one day, mummy’," she explains.

“Honestly, his reaction when I told him I was going to be on it? It was just magical. I was worried he might be a bit embarrassed, but he’s buzzing about it.”

Far from giving up her job to concentrate on the demands of training for Strictly, Punam is determined to juggle both.

“I’ll probably just not sleep,” she says, laughing. “As a doctor, first and foremost, patients will always be your first priority. I’m lucky, I have the most supportive practice.”

She adds with a giggle: “It helps my GP partners and staff are huge Strictly fans.

Strictly returns to BBC1 tonight (Image: free)

“It’s not going to be easy – there is a lot of pressure on GPs, on the NHS at the moment – but I’ll make it work.

“My work brings me grounding, it helps me remember what matters most. It also gives me perspective – you only have one shot at life.”

She laughs. “To have something like Strictly training to do at the end of the day? I couldn’t have asked for a better escape. Maybe I’ll be prescribing dancing to my patients by the end of it.”

This is thoroughly likely - Punam is known in the East End for her inventive methods of supporting her patients, including taking them over to the local Lidl on her days off, to give them tips on shopping for healthy food.

“We are all colourful people,” she nods. “As doctors, I think sometimes people box you in, like you have to be a doctor all the time.

“But we also have lives, things happening, and I know how much music and dancing can really help lift you.

“I hope I will be able to inspire others. If I can infuse some of Strictly into the surgery, that will be really fun.”

She pauses.

"And whatever happens, at least I can look back and say I gave it my best shot.”

Strictly Come Dancing is on BBC1 tonight from 7.20pm