Dr Punam Krishan is known for being BBC Morning Live‘s resident medic – but the doctor is in the Strictly Come Dancing 2024 line-up, and she’ll see you now!
Not that her patients won’t continue to see her in her NHS GP practice, too. Glasgow-born Dr Punam, 41, has insisted she will be continuing with her medical commitments while she’s appearing on the BBC One dance contest.
But Strictly, it seems, was an opportunity she just couldn’t resist.
‘This doesn’t feel real’
Dr Punam said: “This still doesn’t feel real, I am overjoyed to be a contestant on this year’s show.”
She continued: “I have watched Strictly every year with my family and it feels extra special that it’s the 20th year. I can’t believe I will be the one getting Strictly-fied now.
I can’t believe I will be the one getting Strictly-fied now.
“This is so out of my comfort zone, but I’m up for the journey and will give it my absolute all.”
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How Dr Punam Krishan is famous
Dr Punam has been offering medical insights and sharing health news on Morning Live since 2020. Her broadcasting has also included work with BBC Scotland.
She also went viral several years back as she detailed her experience on social media of experiencing racism from a patient.
“I decided to talk about it,” she reflected in January 2019.
Dr Punam added: “It’s important that people are made aware that these attitudes exist in Britain today. I hoped that if I could speak up and raise awareness, it might encourage other people to do the same and share stories where people haven’t been the bystander.”
Where to find Strictly star Dr Punam Krishan on TV
She hosted Laid Bare in October 2019, which saw patients given a comprehensive medical check up – and a frank assessment from Dr Punam. Her advice was described as “a living post-mortem” by one journalist.
Additionally, Dr Punam also appeared in episode of The Weakest Link in December 2022. However, she was voted off in the second round.
She’s also appeared on radio and in newspapers, and Dr Punam’s writing includes her debut children’s book How to Be a Doctor and Other Life-Saving Jobs. Published in 2022, she’s also been commissioned to write a further two children’s books in 2025. You and Your Body will be a flap board book about human anatomy, while A Superhero’s First Aid Manual will concentrate on first aid.
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Strictly star Dr Punam Krishan and her famous husband
Dr Punam married Sandesh Gulhane in 2011, a fellow GP. Since 2021, Sandesh has been an MSP for the Conservatives in Glasgow.
They share two children – son Aarish, 11, and four-year-old daughter, Ellora.
And Dr Punam has previously joked about her husband: “He started off as an orthopaedic surgeon. But you can’t live with me and not become a GP.”
Dr Punam Krishan on her family being told she ‘didn’t have long to live’
Dr Punam has also spoken about the dramatic circumstances surrounding the birth of her son have informed her career.
She ended up on a ventilator in intensive care as she had Aarish.
“My family were told that I didn’t have long to live. What happened to me was a complete out-the-blue crisis point in life that gives you a scare,” she said.
Suffering a postpartum haemorrhage, Dr Punam recalled: “It was a freak, bleed-out episode. I went into heart and lung failure, developed clotting issues and widespread sepsis.”
However, she came to realise that as she was offered medication, all she wanted “was support and space to heal”.
And so Dr Punam considers it important how being a patient can inform being a media, adding: “I returned to work a completely different doctor.”
What happened when Dr Punam Krishan was in a car accident
In March 2023, Dr Punam told social media fans about how her ‘life flashed before her eyes’ during a terrifying car incident.
She said on Instagram: “One minute you could be cruising along, living your best life. And the next you could see it all flash before your eyes.
“This is what happened to me as I lost total control of everything as my car aquaplaned across the lanes on a busy motorway at 70mph causing me to crash straight into the central reservation a few days ago.
“All blurry but yet so vivid, in slow motion but also too fast to register, so deafening but simultaneously silent.
“An experience of absolute fear but one that’s left an overwhelming sense of gratitude. All this, all at once!”
She added: “I’m still trying to process what the hell happened. But there are key people that I can’t stop thinking about whose selfless acts of kindness, compassion and care will stay with me forever.
“There are people who will slow down, look and drive on when they witness a RTA. But then there are people who stop, step up and play a significant a role in helping you. Absolute heroes.”
Dr Punam also explained how “an angel” who was among the first on the scene kept telling her to breathe as they cared for her.
She GP explained: “[The woman] even gave me her blanket to keep me warm and told me to keep it as the paramedics lifted me out.
“I’ve got it beside me now as a reminder of the sweetest strangers who’ll touch your life in the most significant of ways.
“You might never see them again but there’s real goodness out there.”
Dr Punam Krishan to continue as a doctor while she’s on Strictly
The doctor has made it clear she won’t leave her role as a GP while she’s part of Strictly 2024.
She told Instagram followers earlier this month: “When you’re surrounded by the best people, you can achieve anything.
“I’ve had some people ask me whether I’ll be leaving my NHS GP work to do Strictly. Absolutely not.
“It will be a challenge to balance it but I’m so lucky to be supported by the most fantastic team and, as my practice manager put it, ‘we will make it work!’ I love my job.”
Dr Punam continued: “My patients and my duty of care towards them will always come first.
“However, I’m also someone who has passions, dreams, and aspirations outside of my day job.”
She continued: “Strictly is a proper dream come true for me. I’m a fan and my practice team are mega fans so they are fully behind me for which I’m so grateful.”
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Strictly Come Dancing starts on BBC One on Saturday September 14 at 7.20pm.
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