...and how he might be easing off in his busy comedy career

Romesh Ranganathan  has spoken frankly about having suicidal thoughts, but says he is now in ‘one of the best places I've ever been in my life’.

The comic said he’s been through ‘a number of periods of suicide ideation’, but added: ‘Recognising it is half the battle, so sometimes I just go through a dark period and I know that I've got to do something about it.

‘The way I try and tackle that is to talk about it,. I'm trying to normalise feeling like that – not that it is normal – but I'm trying to destigmatise it to make the conversation normal.You got to be careful because it’s triggering

‘You would talk about physical illness openly, ideally you would talk about [mental health] openly, and you'd express all those things, but you do also have to be mindful of the fact that people may have been affected by that.

‘If I suddenly say I had thoughts about taking my own life and somebody's lost someone through that or they've had those moments themselves, you have to be sensitive to that. You don't always get it right, but I think the rewards outweigh the risks.’

Ranganathan’s comments come on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs this morning, where he also told host Lauren Laverne about how his parents adapted to UK life after emigrating from Sri Lanka in 1970.

He said his father Ranga was ‘a tornado’ – and that coming to England from a more conservative background, ‘he was like a kid in a candy store, people were drinking and going out and he just threw himself into British life, wholly and completely…. He was the life and soul of the party.’

However  his mother, Shanthi – who has gone on to appear on many of Ranganathan’s TV projects – found things more difficult.

He said: ‘My dad was going off to work, where you're immediately thrust into social connections  [but] mum is at home…  Thinking about it now, that's a 19-year-old girl who had kids in a foreign country. I don't say this lightly, my mum is one of my heroes.’

When the comic was 12, his father fell into financial trouble, and later had an affair, disappearing for several days.

After trying some ‘Del Boy’-style schemes, he ended up being jailed for just under two years for fraud, which Ranganathan  said was a particularly challenging time.

‘We moved out of the house, and then a counsellor gave us a room in a bed and breakfast,’ he recalled. The comic later reconciled with his father  

Ranganathan, who has his own Radio 2 show and hosts The Weakest Link, also spoke about his reputation for taking on almost any job.

He said there was no game plan for his career, but he just does ‘whatever feels good’. 

However he said he was thinking of taking a step back ‘to be at home a bit more’ – but was quick to add: ‘This is not an announcement of retirement.’

But he said: ‘I am probably going to just be a bit more measured in what I do going forward. And I think I might take, like, a bigger break between bits.

‘A walk in the park could lead to my next stand-up idea. Who knows? I need to fill up my reserves.’

But he says comedy is far better than his pervious job, explaining: ‘ There's not been a single day of my comedy career that's even come close to the stress I felt as a teacher. ’I cannot speak highly enough of teachers.'

Hip-hop fan Ranganathan  chose tracks from Kanye West, Eminem, Public Enemy, Steve Wonder and Huey Lewis and the News for the show, which airs on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds at 10am.

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Published: 1 Jun 2025