Romesh Ranganathan — Movies, TV Shows & Roles

Producer · Actor · Writer

1978-01-30 · Crawley, West Sussex, England · Male

77 series in the catalog

Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan (born 27 March 1978) is a British comedian, actor, and presenter. His style of comedy is deadpan and often self-deprecating.
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. 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, West Sussex, on 27 March 1978, the son of Sri Lankan Tamil parents Ranga and Shanthi. He was raised as a Hindu. He had an eye infection as a child that left him with a drooping eyelid and lazy eye on his right side. He has a younger brother, Dinesh Nathan, who is two years younger than he is. When he was 12, his father encountered financial difficulties and was unable to maintain the mortgage payments on the family home. He was later convicted of fraud and, while Ranganathan was still a teenager, served two years in prison. Ranganathan has said that following his father's death in 2011, he and his younger brother Dinesh had a prolonged rift over the family's financial situation, but later reconciled.
Ranganathan attended the now-closed Forest Grange prep school and then, between 1990 and 1992, 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.
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. 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 in March 2014. He appeared on The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice in 2014, during which he presented his home-made vegan chocolate brownies.
He performed at the Royal Variety Performance in 2015, and from September 2015 presented the BBC Three series Asian Provocateur, in which he travelled to Sri Lanka to explore his ancestry.
Ranganathan discussed his travel show Asian Provocateur across Sri Lanka on BBC Radio interview with Ashanti Omkar on 16 Oct 2016.
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.
He has been a guest on several episodes of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, and 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.
Ranganathan 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. 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 Cariad Lloyd's podcast, Griefcast.
On 26 August 2024, it was announced that he was set to cameo in Hollyoaks, alongside Rob Beckett in September 2024. In November 2024 he was reported as having become a part-owner of Coughlans Bakery, a local bakery chain in South London, Surrey and West Sussex.
In August 2025, it was announced Ranganathan would be a contestant on the second series of LOL: Last One Laughing UK in 2026.
In December 2025, Ranganathan made his West End stage debut as Bill in Alan Ayckbourn's Woman in Mind opposite Sheridan Smith and directed by Michael Longhurst at the Duke of York's Theatre, before touring to Sunderland Empire Theatre and Theatre Royal, Glasgow in March 2026.
Ranganathan is set to appear on the second series of The Celebrity Traitors in autumn 2026.
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 married in 2009 and have three sons together.
He was a vegetarian, before going vegan 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, Nas, the Roots, the flag of Albania, BoJack Horseman and the Autobot logo.
Ranganathan's autobiography, Straight Outta Crawley, was published in October 2018. He was still living in Crawley at the time.
In a 2025 interview on Desert Island Discs, Ranganathan spoke candidly about his lifelong struggles with his mental health, including periods of suicidal ideation. He credited running, reading, and breathing exercises with helping him manage his wellbeing.
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 (2019)
Jon & Lucy's Christmas Sleepover (2021)
The Jonathan Ross Show (2022)
The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan (2023)
Romesh Ranganathan on Instagram
Romesh Ranganathan (BBC Radio 2)
Romesh Ranganathan: For The Love of Hip Hop (BBC Radio 2)