| Romesh Ranganathan | |
| Birth Date: | 1978 3, df=y |
| Birth Name: | Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan |
| Birth Place: | Crawley, West Sussex, England |
| Education: | Birkbeck, University of London (BSc) |
| Years Active: | 2010–present |
| Spouse: | Leesa Ranganathan |
| Children: | 3 |
Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan (born 27 March 1978) is a British actor, comedian and presenter with a Sri Lankan background . His style of comedy is deadpan and often self-deprecating.[1]
Ranganathan has made numerous appearances on television comedy panel shows and has been a regular panellist on , Play to the Whistle, and The Museum of Curiosity. He completed his first major tour, Irrational Live, in 2016; he performed in large venues such as the Hammersmith Apollo. In 2018, he joined A League of Their Own as a regular panellist. He has presented comedy programmes Judge Romesh and The Ranganation, as well as starring in the travel programme The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan. His autobiography, Straight Outta Crawley, was released in 2018. He began hosting the revival of The Weakest Link in 2021.
In 2020, Ranganathan won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Features for The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan. In 2021, he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Entertainment Performance for The Ranganation.
Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan[2] was born in Crawley, West Sussex on 27 March 1978,[3] the son of Sri Lankan Tamil parents Ranga[4] and Sivashanthini Ranganathan.[4] [5] [6] He was raised Hindu.[7] He suffered from an eye infection as a child that left him with a drooping eyelid and lazy eye on his right side.[8] From 1990 to 1992, he was educated at the private Reigate Grammar School.[9] He then attended Crawley's state sector Hazelwick School,[10] before studying mathematics at Birkbeck, University of London.[11]
Before beginning his comedy career, Ranganathan worked as a mathematics teacher at both Hazelwick School and The Beacon School in Banstead. He also engaged in freestyle rap under the stage name Ranga, once reaching the finals of the UK freestyle competition.[12] He began performing comedy while still employed as a teacher.[13]
Ranganathan started presenting Newsjack on Radio 4 Extra in March 2014.[14] He appeared on in 2014, during which he presented his home-made vegan chocolate brownies.[15]
Ranganathan has been a guest on several episodes of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.[16] He co-presented It's Not Rocket Science (2016) alongside Rachel Riley and Ben Miller.[17] He also has appeared on Would I Lie to You?, Holby City, Soccer AM, Russell Howard's Good News, Sweat the Small Stuff, The Last Leg, Virtually Famous, Have I Got News for You, QI, and Mock the Week. He was a contestant on the first series of Taskmaster and also appeared in the third episode of Jon Richardson Grows Up. He also performed at the Royal Variety Performance in 2015 and presented the BBC Three series Asian Provocateur later that year, in which he travelled to Sri Lanka to explore his ancestry.[18]
In 2018, Ranganathan joined Season 13 of A League of Their Own[19] and starred in his own ten-episode docu-comedy called Just Another Immigrant that premiered on Showtime June 8.[20]
Ranganathan's autobiography, Straight Outta Crawley, was published in 2018.[21] In 2020, he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Features for The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan.[22] In 2021, he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Entertainment Performance for The Ranganation.[23] In December 2021, he began hosting the revival of The Weakest Link, replacing Anne Robinson.[24]
Romesh hosts a weekly radio show called For The Love of Hip-Hop on BBC Radio 2. In 2023, it won an Audio and Radio Industry Award for Best Specialist Music Show.[25] [26] On April 20, 2024, he replaced Claudia Winkleman as the host of the lunchtime Saturday BBC Radio 2 show.
Ranganathan continues to live in Crawley.[27] He met his wife, Leesa,[28] while working at Hazelwick School; she was a drama teacher and he was a mathematics teacher.[29] They have three sons together.[30] [31]
Ranganathan was a vegetarian until going vegan in 2013.[32] [33] [34] He is a supporter of Arsenal FC.[35] He has discussed his "obsession" with tattoos and currently sports tattoos with the names of his sons alongside images of Richard Pryor, Nas, the Roots, the flag of Albania, and the Autobot logo.[36]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Cinderella | Romesh the Mouse | ||
| 2023 | Nick (voice) | |||
| 2024 | Despicable Me 4 | Dr. Nefario (voice) | Replacing Russell Brand |
| Year | Title | Channel | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Live at the Apollo[37] | BBC One | Himself | Series 9, episode 3 | |
| 2015 | Live at the Apollo[38] | BBC One | Himself | Series 11, episode 4 | |
| Yonderland | Sky One | Priest | Series 2, Episode 5 | ||
| Taskmaster | Dave | Himself | Series 1 | ||
| BBC Two | Himself | Series 11, regular panellist | |||
| 2015-2016 | Asian Provocateur | BBC Three | Himself | ||
| 2017 | Anthony Joshua vs Rob & Romesh | Sky One | Co-presenter with Rob Beckett | One-off special | |
| Romesh: Talking to Comedians[39] | BBC Three | Presenter | 1 series | ||
| Comedy Playhouse Mister Winner[40] | BBC One | Ajay | One-off comedy | ||
| 2018 | The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan[41] | BBC Two | Presenter | 4 series and Christmas special | |
| Judge Romesh[42] | Dave | Presenter | 2 series | ||
| The Reluctant Landlord | Sky One | Romesh | 2 series 13 episodes | ||
| Romesh's Look Back to the Future | Sky One | Host | One-off comedy panel show | ||
| Just Another Immigrant | Showtime | Himself | 10 episodes; documentary series | ||
| 2019 | Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast | Channel Four | Guest | 1 episode; 4 January 2019 | |
| 2019–present | Rob & Romesh Vs... | Sky One | Co-presenter with Rob Beckett | 5 series | |
| The Ranganation | BBC Two | Presenter | 5 series | ||
| 2020 | Have I Got News for You[43] | BBC One | Guest host | 11 December 2020 | |
| Sunday Brunch[44] | Channel Four | Guest | 13 December 2020 | ||
| A League of Their Own: Christmas Party 2020[45] | Sky One | Himself | 19 December 2020 | ||
| One Night In...Hamleys[46] | Channel Four | Himself | 24 December 2020 | ||
| King Gary [47] | BBC One | Stuart Williams | Series 1, Christmas Special and Series 2 | ||
| 2021 | Staged[48] | BBC One | Himself | ||
| A League of Their Own Roadtrip: Loch Ness to London | Sky One | Himself | 8 April 2021[49] | ||
| Have I Got News for You | BBC One | Presenter | 17 May 2021[50] | ||
| 2021–present | The Weakest Link[51] | BBC One | Host | New host | |
| 2022 | DNA Journey[52] | ITV | Himself | 29 September 2022 | |
| Rob and Romesh vs Christmas On Ice[53] | Sky Max | Himself | Alongside Rob Beckett; 21 December 2022 | ||
| The Misinvestigations of Romesh Ranganathan[54] | BBC | Himself | (second series commissioned)[55] | ||
| 2022–present | Avoidance[56] | BBC One | Jonathan | Co-creator & co-writer (second series commissioned) | |
| 2023 | Romantic Getaway[57] | Sky Comedy | Deacon | Co-writer | |
| 2023–present | British Academy Television Awards[58] | BBC One | Co-host | With Rob Beckett |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Irrational Live | Stand-up | TV special | |
| 2019–21 | The Cynics Mixtape[59] | Stand-up | Tour | |
| 2022 | The Cynic | Stand-up | Netflix special | |
| 2024 | Hustle[60] | Stand-up | Upcoming tour |
| Year | Title | Publisher | ISBN | Pages | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Straight Outta Crawley: Memoirs of a Distinctly Average Human | Bantam Press | 978-0593078259 | 272 | Ranganathan's first autobiography | |
| 2020 | As Good As It Gets: Life Lessons from a Reluctant Adult[61] | Bantam Press | 978-1787633599 | 272 | ||
| 2023 | Lil' Muffin Drops the Mic[62] | Puffin Books | 978-0241647646 | 256 | Released 20 July 2023 |