Comedian Romesh Ranganathan is beloved for his stand-up and presenting gigs, having won audiences over with his appearances on Rob & Romesh Vs…, A League of Their Own and The Weakest Link.
Alongside his podcast, The Romesh Ranganathan Show, the comedian has recently starred in season two of Prime Video’s hit show Last One Laughing, where ten comedians go head-to-head in a bid to make each other laugh.
He also appeared as one of the famous faces on Ed Gamble’s brand new panel show, Unacceptable.
While Romesh tends to keep his wife and children away from the spotlight, that doesn’t mean they are off topic when it comes to his stand-up, with his wife, drama teacher, Leesa, and their three teenage sons, Alex, Theo and Charlie, frequently being the source of his comedy.
Read on to find out what we know…
Ranganathan’s life off-screen
While he’s best known for his stand-up comedy, Romesh was a mathematics teacher – where he met his wife, Leesa – in Crawley before breaking into television, appearing on panel shows such as A League of Their Own, The Ranganation and The Weakest Link.
Romesh also hosts his own game show, Romesh Ranganathan’s Parents’ Evening, alongside his mother, Shanthi Ranganathan.
Shanthi also appears on Romesh’s podcast, The Romesh Ranganathan Show, where she sends voice note questions to celebrity guests. She moved to Crawley, West Sussex, from Sri Lanka at the age of 19 with Romesh’s father. When his father ran into financial difficulties, Romesh’s parents separated.
“Our house was repossessed and we lived in a B&B until we got a council house,” Romesh told Marie Claire. “It was a struggle, but Mum just got her head down, found cleaning jobs and never complained. I owe her a lot, so I now do everything she says.”
Who is Romesh Ranganathan’s wife?
While Romesh lives a relatively public life, his wife, Leesa, prefers to stay out of the spotlight. The pair met in 2009 while they were both working as teachers in Crawley, and have since tied the knot. In summer 2023, the pair celebrated their vow renewal in a summer party with their closest friends.
“I’d say my wife finds me being recognised… she’s quite shy and she can’t understand why anybody would want a photo with the thing that sits on the sofa,” he told The Standard.
© BAFTA via Getty ImagesAnother fun fact about his teaching days is that Romesh had a famous student in his year group, the former maths teacher being head of year to none other than Adolescence star Erin Doherty.
She told Sky News: “You know the comedian Romesh Ranganathan? He was my head of year. How cool is that? He was a maths teacher but I never had him for maths. My sister did. But he was my head of sixth form, my head of year.
“Basically I got kicked off English lit because I didn’t read any of the books and they pulled me, and I think it was my dad, in. So we had a chat with Romesh Ranganathan when he was just Mr Ranganathan. And yeah I had like a chat with Mr Ranganathan to get kicked off of English lit. So that’s my little weird crossing of paths.”
Meet Romesh Ranganathan’s children
Romesh and Leesa are parents to three sons: Theo, Alex and Charlie. Despite Romesh’s success, the teenagers aren’t particularly fussed about their father’s fame.
“I think my kids are at that stage where they find everything I do embarrassing,” he told The Standard. “Whenever I’m doing something cool, or what they consider to be cool, they don’t understand why anybody else would want to do that with me.”
Even when musician Loyle Carner appeared on the podcast, Romesh’s eldest, a big fan, wasn’t impressed.
“When I said to him we’ve got Loyle Carner on the podcast, he said: ‘Why would he want to do that with you?’ It was almost rather than having increased respect for me, he had slightly less respect for Loyle Carner.”
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