An academic who accidentally went viral after his young family crashed his interview with the BBC has appeared in a new live interview with his children seven years on.
American political analyst Robert E Kelly had been speaking in a segment on North Korea in 2017 when his then four-year-old daughter Marion burst into the room with her little brother James hot on his heels in his walker.
The hilarious clip, which has since been viewed millions of times on the internet, saw Professor Kelly – who is a professor of political science at Pusan National University in South Korea – push through, ignoring the chaos behind him as his wife Jung-a rushed into the room to remove their agitated children.
But the embarrassing incident clearly hadn’t put Kelly off 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 live-streamed from their home in Busan, South Korea, was just as chaotic as the original, with Professor Kelly saying 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: US political analyst Robert E Kelly had been speaking to the company during a segment on North Korea in 2017 when his then four-year-old daughter Marion burst into the room with her younger brother James
Marion and James made sure the attention was focused on them again as they sat on their father’s lap in front of the camera, almost blocking their father from view.
Marion then interrupted the broadcast – just like she did seven years ago – by kissing her brother on the cheek, waving to the camera, dancing and stealing her father’s glasses.
When he could get a word in, Prof Kelly revealed he thought his career appearing on TV was over after the clip was initially aired.
He said: ‘At first my wife and I thought no broadcaster would ever call us again and that it was a disaster, it was a ruined interview.
‘But a few hours later it started going viral and we realized it was more than just a botched interview. But at first I thought no one would ever call me again to be on TV.’
As his children continued to energetically make 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 said 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 did not ‘really remember’ the original video.
The video was just as chaotic as the original – as Marion (pictured stealing her dad’s glasses) and James made sure they were the center of attention
Then and now: Prof Kelly revealed he thought he would never be approached by a broadcaster again after the original video (left)
She said: ‘I can’t really remember but I think I was just trying to see my dad and he was interviewing. I don’t know why I did it. Maybe just for fun! I do not know.’
It comes after Professor Kelly re-shared the video and released new photos of her fast-growing children to mark seven years since the original clip of the hilarious mishap went viral.
The doting dad released pictures of the family celebrating Marion’s 11th birthday today, along with pictures of them celebrating Christmas and hiking near their home.
Prof. Sharing a clip of the famous interview on X, formerly known as Twitter, 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 in concentration as she cut a cake, as well as one of Robert and James hiking in South Korea.
He wrote: ‘These are from Marion’s birthday party today and James and I went hiking this morning.’
This was followed by four more photos, one of him and Marion on a walk today, and three taken last Christmas.
In one of these, the children can be seen posing for a photo with Santa Claus, while in another they treat themselves to an ice cream.
Robert E Kelly shared pictures of his adorable children seven years after they shot to fame by interrupting his BBC interview. Pictured: Marion cuts a cake for her 11th birthday while 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 him hiking with his son James on Sunday morning
He also posted a photo of him and his daughter Marion hiking through the hills of South Korea
He added: ‘Another walking pic and some Christmas 2023 pics.’
Since the viral clip, Prof Kelly has been keeping his social media followers updated with the adventures of his mischief making children.
Last year he revealed that Marion learned to play the flute while James won a football trophy in addition to his hobby of ‘making trouble’.
In the cute pictures posted in September, Professor Kelly’s angel 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 dad-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.
Prof. Writing about what his little ones are up to, Kelly said: ‘Marion had a flute performance the other day. She got very excited. And James, well, he’s good at making trouble’.
He put the pictures of James on the pitch and added: ‘Ok. Here is James with his soccer team. So not just a trouble maker’.
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 were flattered by your kindness.’
After the interview became an internet sensation, Marion and James even became the stars of a cartoon show.
The happy dad also shared a photo of Marion and James visiting Santa over Christmas
In another picture, Prof Kelly can be seen smiling as Marion and James eat ice cream in a cafe
In another photo, Marion can be seen wearing a pink and white hanbok while posing with her mother Jung-a
Marion became Mina, James became Jack, and their father is a UN official, but the family is instantly recognisable, and their mother is a yoga teacher, just like in real life.
But the creator of the series has developed the Marion/Mina character and makes her solve crimes and follow her father to North Africa on the trail of a gold thief.
In 2018, Robert explained on Twitter how the ‘strange’ experience made the family ‘happier’, helped him empathize with his co-parents and made him and his wife’s bond with their children ‘even closer’.
Kelly had forgotten to lock her office door during the interview, which meant the children could enter.
The parents did not punish the children for interrupting the interview, as they were too young to understand that they had done something wrong.