An academic who accidentally went viral after his young family blocked his interview with the BBC has appeared in a new live interview with his children seven years later.
American political analyst Robert E. Kelly had been talking about North Korea in a 2017 segment when his then four-year-old daughter Marion burst into the room with her brother James following behind in his walker.
The hilarious clip, which has since been viewed millions of times on the internet, saw Professor Kelly – a professor of political science at Pusan National University in South Korea – cutting through and ignoring the chaos behind him as his wife Jung-a rushed around. into the room to remove their excited children.
But the embarrassing incident clearly hadn’t stopped Kelly from appearing on live TV as he was joined by Marion, now 11, and James, eight, for a new interview on Tuesday’s episode of This Morning.
The interview, which was broadcast live from their home in Busan, South Korea, was just as chaotic as the original as Prof Kelly said his children are still as ‘loud and boisterous’ as ever.
New interview: US political analyst Robert E Kelly appeared in a new interview (pictured) with his children on Tuesday – seven years after his iconic BBC segment
Original video: American political analyst Robert E Kelly had been speaking to the company in a segment about North Korea in 2017 when his then four-year-old daughter Marion burst into the room with her brother James
Marion and James made sure the attention was back on them as they sat on their father’s lap in front of the camera, almost hiding their father from view.
Marion then interrupted the broadcast – just like seven years ago – by kissing her brother on the cheek, waving at the camera, dancing and stealing her father’s glasses.
When he was able to get something to say, Professor Kelly revealed that he thought his career on TV was over after the clip first aired.
He said: ‘At first my wife and I thought no TV station would ever call us again and it was a disaster, it was a broken interview.
“But a few hours later it started going viral and we realized it was more than just a failed interview. But at first I thought no one would ever call me to be on television again.’
As his children continued to make energetic faces at the camera, he also joked that he had put a “lock on the door” to prevent the incident from happening again in the future.
The interview has brought him unexpected fame, as he says he is sometimes recognized at the airport and his students still know him as the ‘BBC dad’.
Marion, who recently celebrated her 11th birthday, said she didn’t “really remember” the original video.
The video was just as chaotic as the original, with Marion (pictured stealing her father’s glasses) and James making sure they were the center of attention
Then and now: Prof Kelly revealed he thought he would never be contacted by a TV station again after the original video (left)
She said: ‘I don’t remember exactly, but I think I was just trying to see my dad and he was interviewing. I don’t know why I did that. Maybe just for fun! Don’t know.’
It comes after Professor Kelly reshared the video and released new photos of his fast-growing children to mark seven years since the original clip of the hilarious accident went viral.
The doting dad today released photos of the family celebrating Marion’s 11th birthday, along with images of them celebrating Christmas and walking near their home.
Sharing a clip of the famous interview on X, formerly known as Twitter, Prof Kelly wrote: ‘BBC Dad content Today marks the 7th anniversary of the BBC Dad blooper. So here it is again, with some recent family photos in the thread below.’
He then posted four photos of his family celebrating Marion’s birthday, with the 11-year-old sharing a photo of concentration as she cut a cake, as well as a photo of Robert and James hiking in South Korea.
He wrote: ‘These are from Marion’s birthday party today, and James and I went for a walk this morning.’
This was followed by four more photos, one of him and Marion walking today, and three taken at Christmas last year.
In one, the children can be seen posing for a photo with Santa, while in another they treat themselves to an ice cream.
Robert E Kelly shared photos of his adorable children seven years after they became famous by interrupting his BBC interview. Pictured: Marion cutting a cake for her eleventh birthday as James looks on
Professor Kelly takes a selfie with his wife Jung-a and their children Marion and James
The political analyst shared this photo of himself walking with his son James on Sunday morning
He also posted a photo of him and his daughter Marion trekking through the hills of South Korea
He added: “Another walking photo and some Christmas photos from 2023.”
Since the viral clip, Prof. Kelly kept his followers on social media up to date with the adventures of his mischievous children.
Last year he revealed Marion learned to play the flute, while James won a football trophy alongside his hobby of ‘making trouble’.
In the sweet photos posted in September, Professor Kelly’s angelic children looked like butter wouldn’t melt as Marion held her flute while dressed in her school uniform and James held up his trophy.
The father-of-two also shared a photo of the siblings kissing their mother – who also appeared in the hilarious video as she rushed into the room to pull them out – on each cheek.
Professor Kelly wrote about what his little ones are up to: “Marion recently had a flute performance. She got very excited. And James, well, he’s good at causing trouble.”
He posted the photos of James on the field and added: “Okay. Here’s James with his football team. So not just a troublemaker.’
On the sixth anniversary of the interview, he said: “Thanks again to all of you who follow me (because of) the video. My family and I are flattered by your kindness.”
After the interview became an internet sensation, Marion and James even became the stars of a cartoon series.
The doting dad also shared a photo of Marion and James getting a visit from Santa Claus over Christmas
In another photo, Prof Kelly is seen smiling as Marion and James eat ice cream in a cafe
In another image, Marion is seen wearing a pink and white hanbok as she poses with her mother Jung-a
Marion became Mina, James became Jack and their father is a UN official, but the family is instantly recognizable and their mother is a yoga teacher, just like in real life.
But the creator of the series has developed the character of Marion/Mina and has her solve crimes and follow her father to North Africa on the trail of a gold thief.
In 2018, Robert took to Twitter to explain how the “weird” experience made the family “happier,” helped him empathize with fellow parents, and made him and his wife’s bond with their children “even closer.”
Kelly had forgotten to lock his office door during the interview, allowing the children to enter.
The parents did not punish the children for interrupting the interview because they were too small to understand that they had done something wrong.