Romesh Ranganathan reveals heartbreaking reason he considered taking his own life
- For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit https://www.thecalmzone.net/get-support
Romesh Ranganathan has revealed the heartbreaking moment he learned that his teacher friend had taken his own life after losing his job.
The comedian has openly spoken about his battle with suicidal thoughts after living through some turbulent times.
The 46-year-old challenged himself to run the Marathon in aid of mental health charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) last year after becoming a patron, and is doing so again this year.
Now, Ranganathan has opened up about the death of his former friend three years ago, who he met as a teacher when he was the head of sixth form at a Crawley secondary school.
While he started out his career in comedy in 2010, his friend was one of the first people who believed in him, Romesh said.
Romesh Ranganathan has opened up about his suicidal thoughts following the death of his friend three years ago (pictured on The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan in Rwanda)
The comedian, 46, became a patron of the mental health charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) last year
Romesh revealed how he found out his friend had taken his own life while he was filming his travel series. Here he is pictured on the show in Rwanda
'He'd drive me to the crappy open-mike gigs and watch me perform to four people in some bar in Southampton,' he told The Times.
After Romesh quit teaching to pursue a career in comedy, the pair of them stayed friends.
However, his friend then lost his job for providing 'over-diligent help with a class's GCSE coursework'.
Despite people rallying around him, Romesh discovered the tragic news of his suicide while he was out in Ethiopia filming The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan.
'I was completely off-grid for 48 hours. As we were driving back I got reception and my phone started blowing up. The first message read, "I can't believe what's happened".'
As messages came through on his phone he soon learned that his friend had died by suicide, leaving him heartbroken.
He said he initially felt like he had 'let him down' but soon though 'you can't do anything about that now', which is what led him to working with CALM.
Speaking about the impact this had on him, he added: 'On more than one occasion, I have felt suicidal.
'Somebody told me it was ideation. I used to fantasise about it. I'd be feeling so stressed out. The idea of those feelings disappearing felt tempting.'
The comedian spoke in April about his mental health, as he explained helping others to deal with their own issues motivated him to take part in the London Marathon on Sunday
Last February, Romesh admitted he has regularly thought about taking his own life due to a 'horrific' voice in his head (pictured in 2022)
Appearing on The Diary of a CEO podcast (pictured), he discussed the challenges he's faced through out his life, while adding that they have provided him with endless material for his sell-out shows
Speaking to Gabby Logan on BBC Sport in April, Romesh explained his motivation for running the marathon.
He said: 'I've talked about it a few times, I came close to taking my own life in the past and it's something I feel strongly about in terms of mental health issues.
'And Calm is a really great charity for raising awareness and so it was both about raising the money and just raising the awareness of the work that they do, so that's why I'm running.'
In February he also admitted he has regularly thought about taking his own life due to a 'horrific' voice in his head.
Appearing on The Diary of a CEO podcast, he discussed the challenges he's faced through out his life, while adding that they have provided him with endless material for his sell-out shows.
During the intimate conversation, Romesh said: 'I was thinking about taking my own life regularly, and I'd fantasise about it.
'I think that all comedians are wired slightly differently. They've had something happen to them that has made them an outsider in some way.'
Speaking on his successful career as a comedian, he said: 'I'm addicted to doing stand-up. And it makes me better at everything.
'But... I've got this inner voice that is horrific. It will say, "you're not a very good Dad, you're not a very good husband."
'I had a run of about six panel shows, and I was in a really bad place, and I turned up to each one of them with the steadfast belief that I was sh*t at this'
Romesh has also insisted that humour should be used more to help people people get through their mental health struggles.
His father Ranga left their mother Shanthi when the comic was just 12 and he and his brother Dinesh were forced to move from Reigate Grammar School to a local comprehensive when their father was jailed for fraud.
His father Ranga left their mother Shanthi when the comic was just 12 and he and his brother Dinesh were forced to move from Reigate Grammar School to a local comprehensive when their father was jailed for fraud (pictured with Shanthi in 2022)
While Romesh and his brother later fell out, the funnyman claims it was his sibling's humour that helped him in the immediate days after his father's death
Romesh previously worked as a teacher but gave up his job to pursue stand-up comedy as a career and insists humour can go a long way to helping people get through their most difficult times (pictured in 2022)
Their family home was repossessed and Romesh and his mother were forced to live in a B&B for 18 months, before finally being found a council house.
Upon his release Ranga started running a pub in Grinstead, East Sussex, but then suddenly died from a heart attack.
While Romesh and his brother later fell out, the funnyman claims it was his sibling's humour that helped him in the immediate days after his father's death.
Speaking about his mental health struggles on the Original Penguin X Campaign Against Living Miserably Under The Surface podcast in March 2023, Romesh said: 'Sometimes you can use humour to deflect and that’s something to be aware of.
'I think it can be really useful. I have a very dark sense of humour, and my family have a very dark sense of humour.
'For example, when my dad passed away, my brother came home and found my dad collapsed after he had a heart attack and passed away.
'I turned up and immediately started crying and the next day we were round at my mum’s house and dealing with the aftermath of that and people coming round.
'My brother subjected me to a 10 minute roast about the sounds I make when I cry. And we were properly laughing about it.
'He goes, "Listen man, we’ve got to talk about some of the sounds that you were making, it was mad! I’ve never heard noises like that come out of a person!", and we just started laughing about it.
'And I know it sounds super dark, but that almost felt cathartic. We were going through this horrible thing, but you can still find light in it and we can still joke.'
For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit https://www.thecalmzone.net/get-suppor
