Comedian Romesh Ranganathan has spoken about his three sons experiencing racist abuse at school, saying it echoes the discrimination he faced growing up in the same West Sussex town, though he believes it was worse in his own youth. Speaking on his Wolf and Owl podcast with co-host Tom Davis, the 48-year-old said the incidents included a classmate making a "marrying your cousin" jibe and his eldest son having a racial slur used against him while walking around school. He said such comments made him assume the offending children were hearing similar language at home.

Ranganathan, who has sons Alex, 16, Theo, 14, and Charlie, 11, with his wife Leesa, also recalled being spat on and called slurs at school himself, as well as being attacked by skinheads outside a club while at university. He said that while racism is "horrible and abhorrent", he does not want his children to let it provoke them into violence, as this would give the abuser power over them. The star also reflected on his difficult upbringing after his father was jailed for fraud, leaving the family temporarily homeless, before he went on to become a maths teacher and later a comedian, broadcaster and host of The Weakest Link.