Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan (born 27 March 1978) is a British comedian, actor, and presenter. His style of comedy is

deadpan Deadpan, dry humour, or dry-wit humour is the deliberate display of emotional neutrality or no emotion, commonly as a form of Comedy, comedic delivery to contrast with the ridiculousness or absurdity of the subject matter. The delivery is meant t ...

and often

self-deprecating Self-deprecation is the act of reprimanding oneself by belittling, undervaluing, disparaging oneself, or being excessively modest. It can be used as a way to make complaints, express modesty, invoke optimal reactions or add humour. It may also be ...

. Ranganathan has made numerous appearances on television comedy panel shows and has been a regular panellist on '' The Apprentice: You're Fired!'', '' 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 The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

. 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''.

Early life and education

Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan was born in

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

on 27 March 1978, the son of

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, form the plurality in the Eastern Province a ...

parents Ranga and Sivashanthini Ranganathan. He was raised as a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

. He had an eye infection as a child that left him with a drooping eyelid and lazy eye on his right side. When he was 12, his father encountered financial difficulties and was unable to maintain the mortgage payments on the family home. Later, his father was convicted of fraud while Ranganathan was still a teenager and served two years in prison. From 1990 to 1992, he was educated at the private Reigate Grammar School. He then attended Crawley's state sector Hazelwick School, before studying mathematics at

Birkbeck, University of London Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a Public university, public research university located in London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London. Establ ...

. Before beginning his comedy career, Ranganathan worked as a mathematics teacher at both Hazelwick School and The Beacon School in

Banstead Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is south of Sutton, London, Sutton, south-west of Croydon, north of Reigate, south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and south of Central London. On the North Dow ...

. He also engaged in

freestyle rap Freestyle rap, also simply known as Freestyle, is a style of hip hop music where an artist normally improvises an unwritten verse from the head, with or without instrumental beats, in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure ...

under the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Ranga, once reaching the finals of the UK freestyle competition. He began performing comedy while still employed as a teacher.

Career

Ranganathan co-presented '' It's Not Rocket Science'' alongside Rachel Riley and Ben Miller in October 2013. He started presenting '' Newsjack'' on

Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British Digital radio in the United Kingdom, digital Radio broadcasting, radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary program ...

in March 2014. He appeared on '' The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice'' in 2014, during which he presented his home-made

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

chocolate brownies. He performed at the

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...

in 2015, and from September 2015 presented the

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

series '' Asian Provocateur'', in which he travelled to

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

to explore his ancestry. In 2018, Ranganathan joined Season 13 of '' A League of Their Own'' and starred in his own ten-episode docu-comedy called '' Just Another Immigrant'' that premiered on Showtime 8 June 2018. In December 2021, he began hosting the revival of ''The Weakest Link'', replacing

Anne Robinson Anne Josephine Robinson (born 26 September 1944) is a British journalist and television presenter, best known as the host of BBC game show ''The Weakest Link'' from 2000 to 2012, and again in 2017 for a one-off celebrity special for ''Children ...

. He has been a guest on several episodes of ''

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' is a British comedy panel show on Channel 4. The show follows the game of '' Countdown'', but presented in a comedy panel show format seen on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', with the show being a crossover of the two. ...

'', and has appeared on '' Would I Lie to You?'', ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

'', '' Soccer AM'', ''

Russell Howard's Good News ''Russell Howard's Good News'' is a British comedy and topical news television show which was broadcast on BBC Three between 2009 and 2014, and on BBC Two between 2014 and 2015. Hosted by comedian Russell Howard, it offered his commentary on th ...

'', '' 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''. Ranganathan hosts a weekly radio show called ''For The Love of Hip-Hop'' on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

. In 2023, it won an Audio and Radio Industry Award for Best Specialist Music Show. On 20 April 2024, he replaced Claudia Winkleman as the host of the lunchtime Saturday BBC Radio 2 show. Ranganathan was the guest in the 185th episode of Cariod Lloyd's podcast, '' Griefcast''. On 26 August 2024, it was announced that he was set to cameo in ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

'', alongside

Rob Beckett Robert Anthony Beckett (born 2 January 1986) is an English comedian, actor, and presenter. He was a co-host on the ITV2 spin-off show '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! NOW!'' from 2012 to 2014. Since 2016, Beckett has been a team captain ...

in September 2024.

Awards

In 2020, he 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''.

Personal life

Ranganathan met his wife, Leesa, while working at Hazelwick School, where she was a drama teacher and he was a mathematics teacher. They have three sons together. He was a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

, before going

in 2013. He is a supporter of Arsenal FC. He has discussed his "obsession" with tattoos, and is tattooed with the names of his sons alongside images of

Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor Sr. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Known for reaching a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, he is widely regarded ...

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

the Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

, the flag of Albania, and the

Autobot The Autobots are a fictional faction of sentient robots in the ''Transformers'' multimedia franchise. The Autobots are living robots from the planet Cybertron who, like most Transformers, are each imbued with a unique "life force" known as a " ...

logo. Ranganathan's autobiography, ''Straight Outta Crawley'', was published in October 2018. He was still living in

at the time. In a 2025 interview on ''Desert Island Discs'', Ranganathan spoke candidly about his lifelong struggles with mental health, including periods of suicidal ideation. He credited running, reading, and breathing exercises with helping him manage his wellbeing.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stand-up

Books

Music

Guest appearances

*'' Mock the Week'' (2013–2017) *'' The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice'' (2014) *'' Big Fat Quiz of the Year'' (2016) *''Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast'' (2019) *''

Hypothetical A hypothesis (: hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. A scientific hypothesis must be based on observations and make a testable and reproducible prediction about reality, in a process beginning with an educated guess or tho ...

'' (2019) *''Jon & Lucy's Christmas Sleepover'' (2021) *'' The Jonathan Ross Show'' (2022) *'' The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan'' (2023)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * *
''Romesh Ranganathan''
(BBC Radio 2)
''Romesh Ranganathan: For The Love of Hip Hop''
(BBC Radio 2) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranganathan, Romesh 1978 births Living people 20th-century English comedians 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English comedians 21st-century English male actors Actors from Crawley Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London BBC Radio 2 presenters Best Entertainment Performance BAFTA Award (television) winners Comedians from West Sussex Comic Relief people English autobiographers English Hindus English male comedians English male film actors English male television actors English male voice actors English people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent English stand-up comedians Male actors from West Sussex People with ptosis (eyelid) Schoolteachers from Sussex Television personalities from West Sussex