Romesh Ranganathan has opened up 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.
The comedian, 46, has been left suicidal in the past having been through some incredibly turbulent times.
And he challenged himself to run the Marathon in aid of mental health charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably).
The BAFTA award winner has been a patron of the charity since October 2023 after revealing his own battle.
Speaking to Gabby Logan on BBC Sport ahead of the race, Romesh explained his motivation for running.
Romesh Ranganathan has opened up 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
The comedian, 46, has been left suicidal in the past having been through some incredibly turbulent times
He challenged himself to run the Marathon in aid of mental health charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably)
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.’
Romesh added that he would be matching the money donated, saying: ‘And, I do want to say, whatever donations I get I’m going to match them.’
He then hurriedly added: ‘To a limit obviously, I don’t want to lose my house over this.’
Gabby asked: ‘What’s your limit?’ causing the comic to admit: ‘I don’t know, let’s just see what happens!’
The sports presenter cheekily teased: ‘Did you say a million to me before?’ causing Romesh to laugh and quickly deny: ‘No Gabby I didn’t say that!’
Speaking about what time he hoped to complete the race in, Romesh quipped: ‘My target time is to finish while the roads are still closed. That is the aim for me, if I get that, that’s me done.’
Sharing his training with his followers over on Instagram before Sunday’s main event, Romesh admitted: ‘I said I’d never run a marathon but here I am.
Speaking to Gabby Logan on BBC Sport ahead of the race, Romesh explained his motivation for running and added that he would be matching the money donated
He then hurriedly added: ‘To a limit obviously, I don’t want to lose my house over this’ as Gabby cheekily teased: ‘Did you say a million to me before?’ causing Romesh to quickly deny: ‘No Gabby I didn’t say that!’
‘I’m not sure where I’d be today if I didn’t get help when I hit rock bottom. In fact, I don’t know if I’d be here at all.
‘So, I want to help to make sure more people know about CALM’s life-saving services, as well as raising as much money as I can.’
Last February, Romesh 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.”
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
‘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’
When asked what happens when it goes wrong on stage, he added: ‘It’s horrible. That silence… That never gets easier, man.
‘But you learn more from those gigs. I just need to do the best I possibly can at this gig, I’m not in control of anything that happens after that.’
‘Don’t think about this goal down the line that you’re trying to get to. Do this thing brilliantly, and if you love what you do and you do that, you’re on a good path.’
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.
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.
Romesh has also insisted that humour should be used more to help people people get through their mental health struggles (pictured in 2020)
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.
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.’
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.
The star insists humour can go a long way to helping people get through their most difficult times.
He explained: ‘I talk about my mental health on stage and you can talk about all things – race, homophobia, or whatever you wanna talk about – but by making jokes about it, you can bring it into the conversation.
‘I talk about mental health very openly in my stand-up, and I do it because I have funny things to say about it, not any other reason.
‘But the hope is that but normalising chatting about it, the staple of getting a prostate exam has been a staple of comedians for so many years, why is going and having therapy not a staple of stand-up? It’s something we should be talking about just as openly and readily.
‘I think that there’s a double-edged sword to it. I think that in some ways humour is a great coping mechanism, but in other ways is someone using humour as a coping mechanism because there’s something going on and something to be aware of.’
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)