Romesh Ranganathan reveals plans to 'take a step back' from his career
But it was his dry comedy style and deadpan delivery that saw him make the leap from clubs to television, with appearances on Have I Got News For You, 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Would I Lie To You.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
20 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Not Going Out star in pain as they're rushed to hospital while filming for BBC
Comedian Lee Mack has revealed that his Not Going Out costar Sally Bretton suffered a medical emergency while filming the latest series of their hugely popular sitcom. Plenty of laughs took over the set of Not Going Out's latest season. But panic hijacked production when Sally Bretton was rushed to hospital, derailing filming. In a television age obsessed with slick dramas, thrillers and satire, comedian Lee Mack is doing something radical - he's trying to make us laugh. Out loud. Every few seconds. And he's doing it the old fashioned way, with a studio sitcom, a real live audience and endless gags. As his BBC1 sitcom Not Going Out returns for a brand new series, with another green lit for next year, it is clearly not going anywhere, clocking up over 100 episodes and holding its status as the longest-running UK sitcom on air. 'We'll never catch up with Last Of The Summer Wine,' quips Lee. 'Thank God.' He adds: 'Our show is seen as very traditional, and some would say old fashioned, so therefore not risky, but it is a risk because it's the minority. 'The highs and lows are extreme. Love or hate the studio sitcom, there's no denying that they are really trying to go for the laugh. I'm not trying to write a line that makes people smile. You don't get canned smiling. I used to aim for a joke on every page, but that's only every 30 seconds, it's not enough. We try for a laugh in every line.' The 56-year-old, who also appears in Would I Lie To You? and hosts game show The 1% Club, stars in the sitcom as 'Lee' alongside Sally Bretton as his long-suffering wife Lucy. The show, which started in 2006, has followed them from awkward flatmates via a torturous 'will-they-won't they' plot until finally, they got married and had three kids. The latest episodes, which Lee was determined to film 'as live' like a play, feature everything from a robotic sex doll to a freebie hotel stay, dilapidated campervan, roles as TV extras and a swipe at Oasis concert ticket sales. Although, Lee reveals a medical issue halted production for a couple of weeks. He says: 'There was a moment in that Oasis episode when we were filming it, when Sally said to me - she looked a bit in pain, 'Do you know what appendicitis feels like?' 'I said, 'I have no idea but I can tell you now you haven't got appendicitis, otherwise you wouldn't be here filming'. The next day she had her appendix out.' Lee, who writes the show with Daniel Peak, takes an affectionate swing at Oasis in the episode that sees the couple lose their place in the online queue and start to blame each other. Lee laughs: 'That is based in truth - I'm a massive Oasis fan, I did try to get tickets, I didn't get them and I'm livid.' He adds: 'I thought, wouldn't it be great if I could get Liam or Noel to appear in that episode. My friend Rob Brydon had interviewed Noel, so I asked for his number. It was the day after the ticket release. I texted Noel, 'I know this isn't a good time, but I reckon everyone's asking for tickets and I'm probably the only one that isn't. Will you be in my sitcom?' He never got back to me.' Lee adds: 'My personal favourite episode is the one where I accidentally bring home a robot sex doll. Let me tell you, robotic sex dolls are very hard to get hold of. We had an actor, with a mask on, and it just didn't work. We could see her breathing. So in the end they had to make a robot. It was brilliant. It moved its head, it moved its mouth, its eyes, and I was in a double act with a sex robot.' The upcoming series rolls the story on several years, with Lee and Lucy now empty nesters. With plenty of time for each other, what could possibly go wrong? Quite a lot it turns out. Episode one follows their attempted house move, thwarted when they find their dream home, but Lee needs to use the loo, causing the usual tension, mistaken identities and farce. There's a nod to nostalgia too, with a photo on the mantelpiece in their new home of Bobby Ball, who played Lee's dad and died in October 2020. Lee says: 'We all miss him a lot. He was like me, he wasn't from an acting background - so whatever I'm like in a studio, he was 50 times worse. The director would have to tell him not to keep looking at the audience every time he cracked a joke.' Over the years a long list of stars have appeared in the show, including Miranda Hart, Tim Vine, Katy Wix, Abigail Cruttenden and Hugh Dennis, with many forgetting that Catherine Tate played Lucy in the pilot, followed by Megan Dodds in series one, before Beyond Paradise star Sally took over. Lee says: 'When we look back, Sally and I do get a bit emotional. We've been in the show a long time and there are different eras of it, especially when you look at all the people from the past who have been in the show and come and gone. 'I think Sally's aged brilliantly, whereas I've got a big gray beard. It's been forever.'
Evening Standard
2 days ago
- Evening Standard
Romesh Ranganathan reveals plans to 'take a step back' from his career
But it was his dry comedy style and deadpan delivery that saw him make the leap from clubs to television, with appearances on Have I Got News For You, 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Would I Lie To You.
Metro
3 days ago
- Metro
Romesh Ranganathan reveals plans to 'step back' from career
Romesh Ranganathan is going to be 'taking a step back' from his career. Initially working as a mathematics teacher, Romesh then pursued a career in the entertainment industry. He's since become best known for appearing on shows including A League of Their Own, Taskmaster, and Have I Got News for You, as well as hosting The Weakest Link. However, after a decade on our screens, the 47-year-old has now revealed he wants to focus on spending more time with his family. This week Romesh was the guest on the latest episode of BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, where he spoke about his intense schedule. '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 host Lauren Laverne. 'There's no vision board or anything like that. (I'm) just doing whatever feels good.' '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,' he added. Romesh then discussed 'wanting to be at home a bit more' but that he wasn't calling time on his showbiz career. '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,' he explained. '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.' In the interview Romesh also reflected on his past career, which he said was far more stressful than working in the entertainment industry. 'There wasn't a single day of that job that I didn't feel completely fulfilled,' he recalled. '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.' Since appearing on Taskmaster and The Apprentice: You're Fired! In 2015, Romesh has fronted The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, Judge Romesh and Rob & Romesh Vs. He has been married to his wife Leesa since 2009. The couple first met when working at the same school in Crawley, where she was a drama teacher. They share three sons – Theo, Alex and Charlie. Earlier this year Romesh spoke about how he came 'very close to ending his life' as a teenager. More Trending 'When I was 18 or 19 years old, I feel like I came very close [to] ending my life,' he told Runners World UK. 'I just couldn't see the point in carrying on. I was super depressed. Then I started to do suicide ideation, where you start to fantasise about it. He went on to share that mental health was still 'something I am still aware of' and he had to 'stay on top of it'. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: The Ballad of Wallis Island's Carey Mulligan: 'I forced my way into the inside jokes' MORE: The 18-year journey of new movie dubbed 'one of the greatest British films ever' MORE: 11 years on, I'm still mourning comedy legend Rik Mayall
