Late Late joy Show
Moment of TV gold when army family was reunited live on air that melted the nation’s hearts
THE army sergeant whose surprise family reunion on the Late Late Toy Show warmed the heart of the nation returns to Africa next week… but will be back home again for Christmas.
‘A dream come true,’ is how Sergeant Graham Burke described returning home early from his mission in Africa to surprise his children live on television.
Now cemented in the Toy Show’s history of TV gold moments, Sgt Burke is having to adjust to his new-found fame as the scenes that reduced the nation to tears of joy became a viral sensation.
After months apart, Sgt Burke had been planning to surprise his children by coming home four days before Christmas, but RTÉ granted a wish he hadn’t dreamed possible when it sought to bring home a member of the Defence Forces as part of the annual TV highlight.
‘I threw my name into a hat and then forgot about it for a while,’ says Sgt Burke. ‘Then, I got the call from my boss and before I knew it, I was on a plane from Mali. I was absolutely over the moon,’ he told the Irish Mail on Sunday.
The father of three said the whole experience ‘has been a dream come true; like winning the Lotto’.
‘I felt a bit embarrassed just before I went on TV, but I thought this is something the children will have forever, and I’ll have forever. It was powerful, and I wanted to do it for the Defence Forces, for all the troops overseas, who struggle being away from their families. And those at home who take on both mantles and become both mam and dad to their kids.’
‘It all happened so fast on the show. I’ve watched it back now with the family, and my eyes just welled up. It was just an amazing moment and the chance of a lifetime,’ he said, after arriving home yesterday to Midleton, Cork.
During the show, his two eldest children unwrapped presents with eight-year-old Adam telling Ryan Tubridy that his dad couldn’t ‘watch the Toy Show because he’s in Mali, training the soldiers’.
He said: ‘He’s been there for six months but he’s coming back in January and then I think he’s going again for another month.’
Tubridy saved the greatest surprise of all until last, as he unwrapped a large box, where their dad had been carefully concealed – still in his army uniform.
The reunion also came as a surprise to daughters Kayla, six, and Emily, four. Their mother Marie had struggled to keep it a secret from friends and family.
Even the grandparents, as they sat at home watching the their grandchildren on the show, had to draw breath when they saw Sgt Burke appear.
Now on his sixth tour of peacekeeping duty overseas, having previously served in the Lebanon, East Timor and Liberia during his 24year career, he said it’s ‘very, very hard’ to be away from his family.
‘It would break your heart leaving them. One of the toughest nights of my life was when I prepared to leave the last time. It’s really tough… but that is our job.’ He will return briefly to Mali but will be back home for Christmas and is due to conclude his tour in three months’ time.
‘The children and I will have it forever’