Romesh Ranganathan
Romesh Ranganathan is a British comedian, actor, and television and podcast presenter. He became a household name by appearing on popular comedy panel shows, including 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Would I Lie to You?, Russell Howard’s Good News, Have I Got News for You, QI and Mock the Week. In 2015, Romesh presented Asian Provocateur, in which he travelled to Sri Lanka with his mother to learn about his heritage, and in 2021 he began hosting the gameshow The Weakest Link. Romesh has presented a number of radio shows and in 2025 he launched The Romesh Ranganathan Show, a podcast in which he interviews guests who have included fellow vegans Ricky Gervais and Sara Pascoe. Of course, it is Romesh’s stand up comedy that has given him such a successful career and in 2023 he headlined Vegan Camp Out.
Why Romesh Ranganathan is vegan
Romesh Ranganathan is vegan for the animals.
Romesh became vegetarian at 12 years old after reading a leaflet about animal cruelty. He lapsed for six months during university but didn’t like how eating meat made him feel so became vegetarian again. Eventually, he realised that he should be vegan for the same reasons he was vegetarian – to not partake in animal cruelty – and made the switch. Romesh Ranganathan has now been vegan since 2013.
While on a 2015 Jonathan Ross show he joked about silly questions people ask about his diet, such as “What do you have… water?” to which he replied “I have compassion.”
“People hate vegans because they know it’s the right choice.”
Romesh Ranganathan on the Viva! Vegan Podcast
Romesh sat down with Viva!’s head of comms, Faye on the Viva! Vegan Podcast, before his headline appearance at 2023’s Vegan Camp Out for a candid chat about his decade-long vegan journey, including why people direct anger at vegans and can’t perceive them as being funny. He also discussed his love of The Great British Bake Off and the importance of raising more awareness about the horrors of the dairy industry.
Viva! Podcast is also on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and lots of other apps and websites.
