Krishnan Guru-Murthy: Strictly will not mean I’m less serious with interviewees

Krishnan Guru-Murthy has a message for any news guests thinking of taking him “less seriously” for competing on Strictly Come Dancing: “Good luck with that.”

The Channel 4 newsreader will face off against 14 other celebrity contestants, including former Family Fortunes presenter Les Dennis, broadcaster Angela Rippon and actress Amanda Abbington, on the new series of the BBC One dance show.

Guru-Murthy has previously said he worries about his “general decrepitude” and is “slightly confused to find myself taking part in Strictly on the basis of you only live once”.

Best known for his current affairs programmes including on the BBC through Newsround, Newsnight, BBC World and News 24, the 53-year-old journalist was asked by The Observer about if he is worried about audiences taking him less seriously.

Guru-Murthy told the Sunday newspaper: “I’ve no idea how I’ll do, but I think the audience knows me well.

“They’ve grown up with me and know what I’m about. As for guests? Having something soft to break the adversarial ice might be helpful.

“I’ll carry on doing what I do. It would be very funny, I think, if anyone dared take me less seriously going into an interview because I’m doing Strictly. Good luck with that. See how you get on, is what I’d say to them.”

He has covered worldwide news events including the Omagh bombing of 1998 and the 9/11 and 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, and has also featured on entertainment programmes like The National Lottery Live.

Guru-Murthy said when he was presenting the “big-budget entertainment show” he was asked whether he wanted to be “Bruce Forsyth or Jeremy Paxman”.

“I thought I could be the best when it came to news and current affairs, but I knew I could never be the best at entertainment,” he added. “I could never get Bruce’s gig, but Jeremy’s felt feasible. So I left that all behind me.”

The newsreader, who began his career at the age of 18 when he presented youth programmes for the BBC, also said doing Strictly is about going back to who he was “before TV happened”.

Guru-Murthy revealed all the Strictly competitors met their professional dance partners a few weeks ago.

Also in the Strictly line-up is ex-tennis player Annabel Croft, actor Nigel Harman, EastEnder Bobby Brazier, Paralympian Jody Cundy and former Coronation Street star Ellie Leach.

Radio host Nikita Kanda, Waterloo Road actor Adam Thomas, Love Island star Zara McDermott, Irish TV presenter Angela Scanlon, Bad Education’s Layton Williams and comedian Eddie Kadi will also take to the dance floor.