'BBC Dad' - from the most viral live interview ever - shares an update

Almost a decade since Robert Kelly's kids, Marion, 4, and James nine months, barged in on his live interview with the BBC, unleashing unprecedented chaos, the political science professor has shared an update.

In one photo posted to X on September 28, Kelly shares birthday cake with Marion, now 13, and James, 10. In another shot, James makes it clear he's outgrown his baby walker (one of the cutest parts of the viral clip), as he hikes with his dad.

The final photo showed him with his wife Jung-A Kim, who he refers to as "BBC Mom", at a street festival.

It's a vastly different to how the family was depicted in 2017 when they were introduced to the world.

 

 

 

 

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'BBC dad' video 10 years later

In 2017, a live BBC News Skype interview with Kelly, a South-Korea-based American political science professor, went viral after his young daughter Marion and son James chaotically and very cutely crashed the session. 

Kelly tried to keep his composure and continue the interview, but then his wife rushes in the grab the kids… And the rest is glorious viral history.

Over the years, people have asked how the kids look now, and Kelly has happily shared small updates.

Last year in March, he posted previous Christmas photos and thanked his followers for their interest, writing on X in March 2025, “As always, my wife & I are very grateful for all the kind remarks over the years about our children. Thank you so much.”

But Kelly also once admitted that he initially thought the interview-gone-wrong was “a disaster.”

“We thought no TV network would ever call us again,” he told The New York Times in 2017. 

“My real life punched through the fake cover I had created on television. This is the kind of thing a lot of working parents can relate to.”

Ultimately, Kelly acknowledged, “We were lucky that our 15 minutes of fame were due to something positive.”

We bet his now-grown kids are grateful for that, too!