Romesh Ranganathan ‘taking a step back’ from his career but not retiring

‘I do feel like I’m sort of settling into winding things up’ the comedian said on Desert Island Discs

Comedian Romesh Ranganathan has said he is “taking a step back” from his career “to be at home a bit more”.

The 47-year-old from Crawley, known for his Bafta-winning TV series with comic Rob Beckett – titled Rob And Romesh Vs, emphasised that he will not be retiring.

“I know that people sort of say I’m busy and I’m always like, trying to work and stuff. There is no strategy. There’s no game plan. I have no end game,” he told Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.

“There’s no vision board or anything like that. (I’m) just doing whatever feels good.”

He added: “I do feel like I’m sort of settling into winding things up, like not winding things up, but I’m taking a step back.

“I want to be at home a bit more. And by the way, this is not an announcement of retirement, but I do feel like, relatively recently, this is quite fortuitous that we’re talking about this at the time that we are, because I have just hit this period of thinking I am probably going to just be a bit more measured in what I do going forward.

Romesh Ranganathan (Getty)

“I think I might take a bigger break between bits. I’ve told you, I’ve not hit the thing yet, maybe this next thing could be it, but it’s not going to be it if I don’t go off and just live life.”

Ranganathan also reflected on the time he spent as a maths teacher, before his current career, and said it was more stressful than working in comedy.

“There wasn’t a single day of that job that I didn’t feel completely fulfilled,” he said.

“I felt very stressed. It’s the most stressed I’ve ever been in my life actually.

“There’s not been a single day of my comedy career that’s even come close to the stress that I felt as a teacher. I cannot speak highly enough of teachers and teaching and how I loved that job.”

Alongside his stand-up, the comedian is known for presenting the game show The Weakest Link and starring in the BBC One sitcom Avoidance.

Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan (Getty)

He also starred in the BBC Two documentary series The Misadventures Of Romesh Ranganathan and BBC Three’s Asian Provocateur, which saw him trace his family roots.

In 2024, he took over Claudia Winkleman’s Saturday morning slot on BBC Radio 2 and he also presents Romesh Ranganathan: For The Love Of Hip Hop on the station.