Krishnan Guru-Murthy left his son Jay, 16, writhing in embarrassment on Saturday night’s episode of Strictly Come Dancing with a massive welcome sign.
The Channel 4 presenter’s son begged his father not to take part in the show and refused to attend the launch episode with the rest of the family.
But Jay warmed to the idea of his father dancing on the BBC show and finally attended to watch him dance the Paso Doble to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Bee The Way with partner Lauren Oakley.
As Krishnan, 53, received feedback from the judges, a huge sign reading “Welcome Jay” stood behind him.
Jay – seated next to Krishnan’s wife Lisa – was filmed cringing in embarrassment in the audience, although he managed a good laugh.
Oh dear: Krishnan Guru-Murthi left his son Jay, 16, cringing in embarrassment on Saturday night’s episode of Strictly Come Dancing with a huge welcome sign
Reaction: Jay cringed at the embarrassment of the audience, but smiled good-naturedly
Krishnan wowed the judges with his passing, which head judge Shirley Ballas said was “sharp, sharp and precise”.
He was dressed in a glittering black suit with sheer panels and dramatic black eyeliner.
He got 6 from Craig, 7 from Motsy and Shirley and was delighted to get 8 from Anton, giving him a total of 28.
Krishnan previously told the Daily Mail about his struggle to get his son on board with his Strictly adventure.
“He begged me not to do it,” Krishnan revealed. “It got to the point where a week before I started and I hadn’t signed the contract, which I mentioned in passing, he said, ‘You didn’t sign the contract, so you don’t have to do it?’ Please, please. do not do that.”
While Krishnan’s wife and daughter wanted to go to the play, Jay did not. “He said, ‘If you’re doing Strictly, don’t mess with me,'” his dad says.
But when Krishnan arrived home after his first performance, the teenager surprised his father with his change of tune.
“His feedback was very muted at first,” says Krishnan. ‘He came through the door at 11pm on a Saturday night and said he was watching the show and then I said ‘what do you think?’
“Then he asked if he could come next week, which was great, that’s a big improvement.” He didn’t want me to do it and now he wants to come to the studio and watch.’
Powerful: Krishnan danced the Paso Doble to Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Be The Way with partner Lauren Oakley
Reaction: Krishnan wowed the judges with his Paso Doble, which head judge Shirley Ballas said was “sharp, crisp and precise”
Krishnan previously revealed he had lost two stone to prepare for the balloon competition – after previously weighing 15 stone.
Mr. Guru-Murthi was forced to take control of his health before his trip to the ballroom, saying Times: ‘Suddenly I felt it was time to say: “Now that, why not?”
“And it was probably now or never.” The longer I waited, the less likely I was physically able to do it.’
The father revealed that he was suffers from the genetic heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which led to the death of two of his relatives.
He remembered asking his doctor a pointed question: ‘Am I going to die live on the BBC?’
“Obviously, I can’t give a 100 percent guarantee,” one of my doctors said in response. As unusual as it seemed to many people to be doing Strictly, it made sense to me.
“I’ve already spent months facing some uncomfortable truths.”
Mr. Guru-Murthi said that as he approached 53, “no amount of great tailoring can hide the fact that 14st 11lb when you’re only 5ft 8in is too much”.
A newspaper reader said that “when I looked in the mirror my self-loathing grew”.
He recalled his teenage son saying, ‘Dad, you’re so fat!’ and his mother commented on his belly before he started losing weight.
The father said his medical history “made everything worse”, explaining how he had had high blood pressure and mild cardiovascular disease for “years”.