Romesh Ranganathan reveals the heartbreaking reason he considered taking his own life

Romesh Ranganathan has revealed the heartbreaking moment he learned his teacher friend had taken his own life after losing his job.

The comedian has spoken openly about his battle with suicidal thoughts after experiencing some turbulent times.

Last year, the 46-year-old challenged himself to run the Marathon in aid of mental health charity CALM (Campaign against Miserable Living) after becoming a patron, and he’s doing it again this year year

Now Ranganathan has opened up about the death of his former friend three years ago, whom he met as a teacher when he was the sixth form headmaster at a secondary school in Crawley.

While he was starting his comedy career in 2010, his friend was one of the first people to believe in him, Romesh said.

Romesh Ranganathan has opened up about his suicidal thoughts after his friend’s death three years ago (pictured Romesh Ranganathan’s Misadventures in Rwanda)

The comedian, 46, became a patron of mental health charity CALM (Campaign Against Miserable Life) last year.

Romesh revealed how he discovered his friend had taken his own life while filming his travel series. Here he is shown at the show in Rwanda

“He would drive me to open mic gigs and watch me perform in front of four people in some bar in Southampton,” he told The Times.

After Romesh left teaching to pursue a career in comedy, the pair remained friends.

However, his friend lost his job for providing “overly diligent help with a class’s GCSE papers”.

Even as people rallied around him, Romesh discovered the tragic news of his suicide while he was away in Ethiopia filming The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan.

“I was completely off the grid for 48 hours. As we were driving back, I got reception and my phone started blowing up. The first message was, ‘I can’t believe what’s happened.’

When the messages arrived on his phone, he soon learned that his friend had committed suicide, leaving him heartbroken.

He said he initially felt as if he had “let him down”, but soon “now you can’t do anything about it’, which is what led him to work with CALM.

Speaking about the impact this had on him, he added: “On more than one occasion, I have felt suicidal.

“Someone told me it was an idea. I used to fantasize about it. I would feel really stressed. The idea of ​​those feelings going away seemed tempting.’

The comedian opened up about his mental health in April, explaining that helping others deal with their own problems motivated him to take part in the London Marathon on Sunday.

Last February, Romesh admitted that he had regularly thought about taking his own life because of a ‘horrible’ voice in his head (pictured in 2022)

Appearing on The Diary of a CEO podcast (pictured), he spoke about the challenges he has faced throughout his life, while adding that they have provided him with endless material for his sold-out shows.

Speaking to Gabby Logan on BBC Sport in April, Romesh explained her motivation for running the marathon.

He said: “I’ve spoken about it a few times, I’ve come close to taking my own life in the past and it’s something I feel very strongly about in terms of mental health issues.

“And Calm is a great charity to raise awareness of and so it was as much about raising money as it was just about the work they do, so that’s why I’m running.”

He also admitted in February that he has regularly thought about taking his own life because of a “horrible” voice in his head.

Appearing on The Diary of a CEO podcast, he spoke about the challenges he has faced throughout his life, while adding that they have provided him with endless material for his sold-out shows.

During the intimate conversation, Romesh said: “I was thinking about taking my own life regularly and would fantasize about it.

“I think all comics are wired slightly differently. Something has happened to them that has made them an outsider in some way.”

Speaking about his successful career as a comedian, he said: “I’m addicted to doing stand-up.” And it makes me better at everything.

“But … I have this inner voice that’s horrible. It’ll say, ‘You’re not a very good father, 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 went to every one of them with the firm belief that I was crap at it.”

Romesh has also insisted that humor should be used more to help people overcome their mental health struggles.

His father Ranga left his mother Shanthi when the comedian was just 12 and he and his brother Dinesh were forced to move from Reigate Grammar School to a local center when their father was jailed for fraud .

His father Ranga left his mother Shanthi when the comedian was just 12 and he and his brother Dinesh were forced to move from Reigate Grammar School to a local center when their father was jailed for fraud (pictured with Shanthi in 2022)

While Romesh and his brother later fell out, the funnyman claims that it was his brother’s sense of humor that helped him in the immediate days after his father’s death.

Romesh previously worked as a teacher but left his job to pursue stand-up comedy as a career and insists that humor can go a long way in helping people get through their toughest times ( in the photo of 2022)

His family home was repossessed and Romesh and his mother were forced to live in a B&B for 18 months, before they were finally found a council house.

On his release, Ranga began running a pub in Grinstead, East Sussex, but died suddenly of a heart attack.

Although Romesh and his brother later fell out, the funnyman claims that it was his brother’s sense of humor that helped him in the immediate days after his father’s death.

Speaking about his mental health struggles on the Original Penguin X Against Living Miserably Under The Surface podcast in March 2023, Romesh said: “Sometimes you can use humor to deflect and that’s something to be aware of.”

“I think it can be very useful. I have a very dark sense of humor, and my family has a very dark sense of humor.

“For example, when my father died, my brother came home and found that my father had collapsed after he had a heart attack and died.

“I turned up and immediately started crying and the next day we were at my mum’s house and we dealt with the aftermath of it and the people coming over.

“My brother subjected me to a 10-minute roast about the sounds I make when I cry. And we were having a proper laugh about it.

“He’s like, ‘Listen, man, we gotta talk about some of the sounds you were making, that was crazy! I’ve never heard noises like that come out of a person!” and we started laughing. that.

“And I know it sounds super dark, but that almost felt cathartic. We were going through a horrible thing, but you can still find light in it and we can still joke around.”

For confidential support call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit https://www.thecalmzone.net/get-suppor