Romesh Ranganathan reveals he was "racially abused" at private school
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Romesh Ranganathan has opened up on being "racially abused" during his time at private school.
The British-Sri Lankan comedian candidly opened up on difficulties during his childhood during a chat with the Radio Times Podcast, revealing he faced racist abuse and was seen as an "outsider" by his classmates.
"My parents had come from Sri Lanka and they were obsessed with me going to private school," he said.
"I didn’t enjoy my time there. I was a bit of an outsider. Without getting too dark, I was racially abused.
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"So, I wasn’t that bothered about leaving. I went to a state school, had a great time and went on to teach at that same school – which is where I met my wife."
After a teaching career, Romesh went on to carve out a successful career as a comedian and presenter, becoming the host of The Weakest Link and appearing alongside fellow comedian Rob Beckett in their own series Rob and Romesh.
The pair co-hosted this year's BAFTA TV Awards, where Romesh opened up on an embarrassing interaction with Luther star Idris Elba.
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"I met Idris Elba at the first BAFTAs I came to and I got very starstruck around him. I tried to do banter and it went pretty badly," he told Radio Times.
Rob helped Romesh re-enact the interaction, with Rob pretending to be Idris and questioning Romesh on why he was in attendance at the ceremony.
Romesh ended the chat by saying that he "loved Luther", to which Rob revealed Idris simply replied "Right. Thanks."
"And he didn’t say anything else?" Rob asked his co-host, to which Romesh replied: "No, I mean he didn’t say exactly the things that you said."
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