BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Dr Punam Krishan's famous husband and near-death experience

Morning Live's resident doctor Dr Punam Krishan - a self-confessed "mega fan" of Strictly - has taken to the dancefloor for the BBC show's 20th anniversary year. The Glasgow GP has been paired with Gorka Márquez for her journey on the show.

Described by the BBC as a "media medic and broadcaster", she regularly appears on both Morning Live and BBC Radio Scotland. And alongside being a practising NHS GP, Punam regularly reports on health news as a broadcaster on TV, radio and national newspapers.

She has also written her own children’s book, with additional books in the pipeline. She's not one to shy away from a challenge - but has admitted to some "intense" nerves about going on Strictly and admits it's firmly out of her comfort zone.

Read on to find out more about her life and career.

Early life in Glasgow

Born on May 28, 1983 in Glasgow, Punam grew up in Glasgow, where she still lives and works. She is the eldest of two daughters. She went to Hillhead Primary and then Notre Dame High School before studying medicine at Glasgow University.

She previously told The Herald she was "raised on curry and Irn Bru". Her Indian-born parents arrived from Punjab in the late 1970s.

She said: "It was ingrained in us that education was the key to freedom. You were either going to be a doctor, lawyer, accountant or a failure."

Before her Strictly stint was announced she recalled a love of dancing as a child, saying: "I used to dance a lot when I was younger – I did classical Indian dancing – so I think I’d like to go back and maybe do some formal dancing lessons."

Decision to become a doctor

Although Punam says she enjoyed "history and language and music and drama" medicine became the front-runner after she was inspired by her "role model" childhood family GP Dr Kauser.

She said: "This still doesn’t feel real, I am overjoyed to be a contestant on this year’s show. 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. This is so out of my comfort zone, but I’m up for the journey and will give it my absolute all."

And she added on Morning Live: "I cannot tell you how excited I feel. As a mega fan of the show for years, this honestly feels like a dream come true. And I'm in a very, very lucky position because many members of our Morning Live family have been there.

"They've done it so I'm going to be tapping into all of their guidance and advice and wisdom just to help me through. I can't wait for what's ahead."

Dr Punam Krishan is an NHS GP with a specialist interest in public health, family and lifestyle medicine. She has also taught at the University of Glasgow, where she studied medicine.

A busy home and work life

She previously told the University of Glasgow website that her typical working week is as a GP in Glasgow from Monday to Thursday morning before media work on the rest of Thursday and Friday, including travelling to Manchester for Morning Live.

Of turning to writing alongside her medicine - kickstarting her media career - she's said: "I’ve always loved writing – I started off writing for the GP publication Pulse. I was experiencing burnout and writing became a space to offload and express my feelings about work.

"There’s a lot of negativity towards GPs and people in primary care, and that can be quite isolating. I felt empowered by sharing my experiences and it connected with lots of fellow doctors, then it all took off from there."

'Traumatic' health scare that left her in intensive care

Punam said that she nearly died following the birth of her son 11 years ago.

After arriving in hospital to give birth things soon spiralled and her baby's heart rate started 'fluctuating dangerously' while her pain became 'unbearable'. She was eventually taken to theatre, having lost a significant amount of blood while her baby was taken for paediatric intervention.

In a Op-Ed for the I, she explained that she needed 'urgent surgery' and was suffering from anaphylaxis and sepsis. She wrote: "I was unconscious and ended up intubated in intensive care, only to wake up days later attached to various machines, away from my baby and with a mess of a body.

"The word 'trauma' feels like an understatement."

After being discharged Punam said she felt 'broken' and was prescribed antidepressants and completed a course of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) after suffering with 'severe' postnatal depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

'Burnout', 'parent guilt' and why she quit her practice

Punam has spoken candidly about her decision to leave the practice where she worked as a GP partner and is open about the difficulties facing doctors in the NHS.

She quit in 2017, but stressed to the Scotsman that "I haven’t quit being a GP, I’ve quit being a partner in a practice" and was still working full time.

And she told the i: "I loved my job as a doctor, but I detested the bureaucracy of it all."

Punam recalled that she qualified as a GP at 28, but was suffering from burnout by 33. She added: "I found myself giving and giving until the day my family holiday was ruined by my inability to switch off from work. I was physically abroad with family, but mentally I was at my practice.

"I wasn’t being an effective mother because my work was always coming home with me. I was always torn between work guilt and parent guilt, wanting to do the right thing by everyone but failing to find ways to sustain myself against the unsustainable."

Strictly 'mega fan' and the 'perfect antidote'

Ahead of her first week on the show, Punam said: "This still doesn’t feel real, I am overjoyed to be a contestant on this year’s show. 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. This is so out of my comfort zone, but I’m up for the journey and will give it my absolute all."

And she added on Morning Live: "I cannot tell you how excited I feel. As a mega fan of the show for years, this honestly feels like a dream come true. And I'm in a very, very lucky position because many members of our Morning Live family have been there.

"They've done it so I'm going to be tapping into all of their guidance and advice and wisdom just to help me through. I can't wait for what's ahead."

She admitted to some intense nerves at the sight of the judges during the launch show, saying: "I just had a moment of just being utterly starstruck as I was in front of Shirley, and the nerves intensified."

But Punam also says appearing on Strictly is the "perfect antidote" for her busy working life in the NHS. She told the Radio Times: "I'm always doing things for everybody else – pleasing my parents, working for my patients, being a mother, a wife. I'm putting myself out there to try something completely different, for me.

"It's worlds apart from what I'm used to. I spend my whole week either in scrubs, leggings or joggers. Working in the NHS can be quite stressful, so this is the perfect antidote to that, to decompress and have some fun."

Family and parenting struggles

Punam is married to Dr Sandesh Gulhane, who is a a Member of the Scottish Parliament and also an NHS GP. Sandesh is the Scottish Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and has been an MSP since 2021.

They have two children - son Aarish, 11, and daughter Ellora, four.

The pair married in 2011 and had two ceremonies to mark the special occasion - one in the UK and one in India.

Gulhane, who is also a GP, is the first Hindu and first man of Indian descent to be elected to the Scottish Parliament, representing the Glasgow region.

She has previously been open on the reality of trying to raise two children while having a full-time job in the NHS. Back in 2022, Dr Punam told the i that she spends around £1,300 a month on nursery fees, and £480 a month during term times for after-school clubs.

Her daughter, who was two at the time, was in nursery every day from 8.30am until 5 or 6pm, while their son - nine-years-old at the time of writing - would often partake in after-school facilities.

She said at the time: "I often feel like a character in Motherland. When I turn up at work I feel in utter control, but there is so much childcare chaos behind the scenes, the before-and-after work rush of making sure you get to your kids on time, that you're present for them when you go and meet them and they don't see how stressful it's been – that in itself is an art."

She said then that she had considered reducing her hours or not working - but argued medicine is a "vocation", saying: "I have a strong sense of duty and a calling and I think it's really important that my kids see their parents working. In turn I hope it inspires them with work ethic."