Professor whose children crashed live TV interview says they were 'mortified'

A professor who went viral after his children spectacularly crashed his live television interview said his family were finally able to laugh about the mishap.

Professor Robert E Kelly tried - and failed - to pretend nothing was happening when his daughter danced up behind him, followed moments later by his baby child bumbling into the room in his stroller.

The clip of his BBC World Service interview quickly became a viral sensation around the world.

However, Prof Kelly said his first reaction was "mortification" in an interview.

"We were worried actually that the BBC would never call us again actually," he said in an interview together with his wife and children: Marion, aged four, and eight-month-old James.

"Our first response was mortification that we had just sort of completely blown our relationship with you."

His wife, Jung-a Kim, who was seen rushing into the room to remove their two children during the live interview, said they "laughed a lot" after they had got over the initial shock.

"We watched it multiple times, too," added Mr Kelly. "Our families have watched it as well and everyone we know finds its pretty hysterical."

Mr Kelly, an academic at South Korea's Pusan National University, said they had been left "uncomfortable" by the widespread assumption of many viewers that Ms Kim was a nanny.

He also confirmed he had been wearing trousers during the Friday morning interview, following online speculation that he didn't get up from his desk to deal with the disruption because he was only dressed from the waist up.