Krishnan Guru-Murthy has revealed he still gets angry about his consultant father, who helped many hospital patients in Burnley, being spat at in the street for being an immigrant in the town.

Channel 4 news presenter and former Strictly star Krishnan said his family have always had to face up to racism, even though it has become less blatant.

The journalist’s father was a poor orphan who grew up in India but went on to train as a medic before coming to Liverpool in 1962 to progress his career and become a junior doctor.

Krishnan said his dad didn’t own a pair of shoes until he went to medical school and as a result he still feels the need to work at the age of 91.

Krishnan, who was born in 1970 before the family moved to Pendle, Lancs, four years later, said: “My dad went from the kid who didn’t have any shoes and parents and food, to being a consultant in the NHS who gave his kids everything.”

But he told how along the way his parents accepted the family would have to contend with racism, which was worse in the sixties and seventies but he said still exists.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy has revealed he still gets angry about his consultant father, who helped many hospital patients in Burnley, being spat at in the street for being an immigrant in the town

Channel 4 news presenter and former Strictly star Krishnan said his family have always had to face up to racism, even though it has become less blatant

He told the Rosebud podcast: ‘Racism had changed in that the Race Relations Act had been pᴀssed, there weren’t the signs any more, but there was still overt racism. We were still called names.

‘We did talk about it at home, but we were brought up with that “you are going to face this and you’re going to have to deal with it”.

‘It was just like “people are going to say these things, it doesn’t matter, here’s what to say back”, or “here’s how to deal with it, or just walk away”.

‘Racism was normal in the playground. They would add in “you black..”, or “you whatever” into whatever insult they were going to give you anyway.

‘But yes it was the 1970s. It was east Lancashire as well – there were high immigrant populations in some of those towns, like Burnley, Nelson, Pendle, where I grew up.

‘There was a certain amount of open racism.

‘I remember walking down the street in Burnley town centre and my dad being spat on, which is something which still makes me very angry when I think back about it.

‘Apart from the obvious reasons, my dad was a consultant in Burnley for decades and probably looked at X-rays and scanned half the population over his period of time there. It was part of life.

The journalist’s father [pictured] was a poor orphan who grew up in India but went on to train as a medic before coming to Liverpool in 1962 to progress his career and become a junior doctor

‘I remember walking down the street in Burnley town centre and my dad being spat on, which is something which still makes me very angry when I think back about it’

‘Racism was normal in the playground. They would add in “you black..”, or “you whatever” into whatever insult they were going to give you anyway’

‘I remember talking to my own wife about our kids and saying “we’re going to have to talk to them about this and prepare them, because that’s what my parents did” [pictured with wife Lisa in 2016]

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‘I remember talking to my own wife about our kids and saying “we’re going to have to talk to them about this and prepare them, because that’s what my parents did”. 

‘And she thought I was bonkers and was going “don’t be silly, that’s not going to happen”.

‘I’m not sure whether it has or not. I think there’s a lot of racism around these days but it’s different. It’s perhaps not as blunt and open.’

The full interview can be heard on the Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth podcast on all major platforms on Friday.

Back in 2023, Krishnan shared a plethora of family snaps featuring his father as he marked his then 90th birthday. 

Back in 2023, Krishnan shared a plethora of family snaps featuring his father as he marked his then 90th birthday

Writing a heartfelt message about his parent, he penned: ‘Happy 90th Birthday Dr Krishnan Guru-Murthy! He’s at work today as usual, in the NHS, where he must surely by now be the longest serving Consultant Radiologist on record.

‘He became an NHS doctor when he arrived in the UK in 1962 and was made a consultant in the early 1970s. 

‘Here are a few pH๏τos of Dad – the most recent I have with my Mum recently and the oldest I have when they got married, and a few in between with my brother and sister.

‘We don’t have any from when he was a boy because he was orphaned young and the family lost everything as refugees in the war anyway.’