Romesh Ranganathan is one of our best loved TV comedians, even managing to bag the coveted gig of presenting The Weakest Link – find out all about him in our in-depth profile.
He’s the deadpan star of The Ranganation, who was announced as the ‘new Anne Robinson’ in 2021.
Although his debut on the show received mixed reviews, we’re HUGE fans of his and could watch him all day.
Which is just as well, as he has another TV show starting!
Here’s everything you need to know about comedian Romesh Ranganathan…
Read more: The Weakest Link: Romesh Ranganathan’s childhood trauma after dad went to prison
Romesh Ranganathan profile: What is he famous for?
Believe it or not, Romesh Ranganathan used to be a maths teacher!
If only all maths teachers could be as cool as Romesh!
Unfulfilled by a life behind a desk, Romesh began moonlighting as a stand-up comedian.
Unsurprisingly, he soon found success and was able to quit the day job.
He started presenting Newsjack on Radio 4 Extra in March 2014, and won audiences over on panel shows including The Apprentice: You’re Fired, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Taskmaster and Would I Lie to You?
In 2016, he co-presented It’s Not Rocket Science on ITV, alongside Rachel Riley and Ben Miller.
He completed his first major tour, Irrational Live, the same year.
In 2018, Romesh Ranganathan joined A League of Their Own as a regular panellist, replacing Jack Whitehall.
He’s since fronted his own shows including Judge Romesh and The Ranganation, and travel show The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan.
In December 2021, the BBC announced Romesh Ranganathan was the new host of The Weakest Link, replacing Anne Robinson as host.
Romesh has also published several books, including his two memoirs Straight Outta Crawley, and As Good As It Gets: Life Lessons from a Reluctant Adult.
What others shows has Romesh been in?
Romesh is a very familiar face on TV, having hosted several of his own shows and guested on many, many more.
Among programmes he has appeared on are King Gary, and he played himself in the David Tennant lockdown comedy Staged.
His own series includes Just Another Immigrant, sitcom The Reluctant Landlord and Judge Romesh.
His mum Shanthi has made regular, semi-in character appearances in a number of his shows.
Romesh has also won two BAFTAs for his TV work.
He bagged the first for travel series The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan in 2020.
The comedian won a second in 2021 for The Ranganation.
Romesh has also performed as a freestyle rapper under the rap name ‘Ranga’.
He once reached the finals of the UK freestyle competition.
Romesh will soon appear in the new comedy TV series Romantic Getaway opposite Katherine Ryan.
The six-part romantic comedy is currently being made for Sky.
Read more: Weakest Link to return hosted by Romesh Ranganathan and Anne Robinson has given her verdict
Romesh Ranganathan profile: How old is he and where is he from?
He is currently 44 years of age.
Romesh was born to Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu parents, and identifies as Hindu.
He has a younger brother, Dinesh.
Where does Romesh live?
Romesh recently moved into a £3million home just five miles from the humble terrace house where he grew up.
According to the Mail Online, he built a six-bedroom property in his home town of Crawley in West Sussex.
The comedian, his wife Leesa and their three children recently moved in, although workmen were still digging the swimming pool and putting the finishing touches to the red-brick house.
A source told website: “Romesh could have moved somewhere flash but he decided to stay in Crawley, where his roots are.
“It’s where his mum and brother are and it’s a town he loves.
“He has managed to find a space there to build his dream home, though it is rather bigger than his childhood home in one of the poorer areas of Crawley.
“It’s a lovely story of rags to riches which Romesh has worked very hard for.”
Romesh Ranganathan profile: Does he have tattoos?
Romesh has several tattoos on his body.
He has previously stated that he got obsessed with getting body art.
Romesh subsequently got tattoos with the names of his sons Theo, Alex, and Charlie.
He also has inkings of his comedy idol Richard Pryor, Nas, the Roots, the Albanian flag and the Transformers’ Autobot logo!
In 2020, he tweeted: “I just got a new tattoo without realising that you can’t go swimming with it.
“We’re on holiday next week so for Valentine’s Day my wife got me a massive arm johnny.”
Is Romesh married? Does he have a wife?
Romesh married his wife Leesa in 2009.
They met when they both worked as teachers at Hazelwick School in Crawley.
Leesa is a drama teacher and Romesh taught maths before going into the entertainment business full time.
They are parents to three sons – Theo, Alex, and Charlie.
Although Leesa isn’t in the public eye, Romesh has previously stated that she is “unfazed” when he mines their family life for comedic material.
Romesh has also insisted he wouldn’t be a comedian without her support.
He told Marie Claire: “When I started doing stand up, I resigned from my job as a maths teacher.
“Three days before I was due to leave, my dad passed away.
“I wasn’t able to focus on work, we couldn’t pay the bills and our car was taken away.
“But Leesa never showed a lack of faith.
“I felt I’d put us through a bad patch and not for a very noble reason.
“Being a comedian is a very vacuous thing to decide to do.
“But she came to all my shows and gave me feedback.
“Without her support I wouldn’t have been a comedian.”
Romesh Ranganathan profile: What is wrong with his eye?
The comedian has mentioned his eye on several occasions during his stand up routines and other performances.
He suffers from a right-sided ptosis, which caused lazy eye as a child.
Of course, rather than let it hold him back, Romesh often takes the mickey out of himself and his looks.
Is Romesh Ranganathan vegan?
Romesh Ranganathan is vegan.
He ate a vegetarian diet until 2013, when he went fully vegan.
When he appeared on The Jonathan Ross Show, he joked about the silly questions people ask him about his diet.
He said that when people say things like “what do you have… water?” he replies that he has “compassion”.
In a BBC Two video, Romesh spoke about the ‘logic’ of vegan haters.
In the two-minute video, entitled ‘The real reason people hate vegans’, he asks why meat eaters are annoyed with vegans for “saving the world”.
The comedian argued that most people hate vegans “because they know it’s the right choice” and that vegans act as a “reflective surface showing you your own inadequacies and you can’t handle it”.
Why did Romesh’s dad go to jail and where is he now?
Sadly, Romesh lost his dad Ranga before he swapped life as a maths teacher for that of a comedian.
His father passed away in 2011.
However, Ranga was the inspiration for Romesh’s sitcom The Reluctant Landlord, as he once ran a pub in West Sussex.
In 2018, Romesh opened up about his father going to prison for two years after being convicted of fraud.
Debts resulted in the family home being repossessed when Romesh was a teen.
His father, then an accountant, also left his wife and sons to move in with another woman.
Romesh, brother Dinesh and their mum lived in one bedroom in a B&B while they waited for a council house.
And mum Shanthi took on a multitude of jobs to keep their heads above water.
Romesh admitted during a 2018 chat that his family circumstances altered his approach to the world.
He said: “It changed my attitude to things.
“I’d taken things for granted.
“We ended up going to rock bottom and you have to make your way back up.”
Romesh also reflected how it is difficult for him to address his father’s actions, as Romesh idolised him.
He added: “My dad was a hero to me, but I know he also did some horrible things to my mum.”
Romesh and his family spent Sundays seeing Ranga in an open prison in West Sussex.
Romesh recounted: “It was horrific. The house gets repossessed, I get taken out of [private] school, then my dad goes to prison.
“Those experiences definitely had a profound effect on me.”
The Misinvestigations of Romesh Ranganathan on BBC Two
Romesh Ranganathan explores some of the most mysterious celebrity deaths in this new three-part series.
The comedian examines the lives and untimely deaths of some of pop culture’s biggest stars.
Criminal psychologists and private detectives help Romesh dig deep into each case.
The first episode sees Romesh attempt to resolve the mysterious death of American rock star Jimi Hendrix.
His fans will know that he was found dead in a Notting Hill flat in September 1970.
Rumours of foul play have persisted for years – but was it really a drugs overdose?
Of course Romesh Ranganathan isn’t a detective, or even close, so we’re not really expecting any real answers here.
But he’s such a funny, nice bloke, we could watch him all day.
The comedian explores the most bizarre celebrity deaths in The Misinvestigations of Romesh Ranganathan, which airs on Sunday March 27 2022 at 9pm on BBC Two.
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