Romesh Ranganathan reveals the Crawley joke that came back to haunt him; Jamie Oliver questions town's unwanted label
Romesh Ranganathan has revealed how a joke about The Hawth theatre in Crawley, during his Netflix comedy special, came back to haunt him months later.
The television star and comedian was speaking, on his podcast – with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver – when the conversation turned to his West Sussex hometown and why he has continued to live there.
"So you've always been in Crawley?," Oliver asked, after questioning where Ranganathan where he had been living during the 1980s.
"Yeah, why would you leave?" Ranganathan, 48, joked.
"It's one of the worst five places to live, in the UK, according to most polls."
Oliver, 51, questioned whether the comedian would face backlash from Crawley residents over those comments.
"I'm sure it's not," the restaurateur said.
"When you go down the high street, are you going to get loads of grief for that?"
Ranganathan then recalled an incident involving The Hawth – Crawley’s arts and entertainment complex – where the comedian filmed his Netflix comedy special.
He explained that he had included a joke about the venue, which he said was ‘sort of based in truth’.
"I said I can't believe Crawley isn't making a bigger deal out of this," Ranganathan told Oliver.
"I'm doing a Netflix special here and The Hawth looks like a disused leisure centre.
"They've not had a camera crew here before so it's mad they're not making a bigger deal of it."
However, the comedian said he thought little more of the joke until he returned to the venue several months later, with his wife Lisa and their children, to watch a show.
Ranganathan then recalled: “I go up to get a drink and he [the barman] said: 'Disused leisure centre' [with a raised eyebrow]."
Ranganathan joked that the exchange left him reconsidering whether he should return to the venue.
"I was like, 'Lisa, we can't come back here anymore',” he said.
The anecdote comes as Ranganathan continues to discuss his long-standing connection to Crawley on his podcast, despite regularly poking fun at his hometown.
Last week's special guest, on The Romesh Ranganathan Show, was Ray Winstone. The actor took a brutal swipe at Crawley – describing it as a ‘cheap version of Surrey’.
He then told Ranganathan: “You haven't quite made it enough to get the big house down the road, have you?”
The exchange was clearly intended as light-hearted banter between the pair, with Ranganathan taking the comments in good humour.
The TV star, who used to teach at Hazelwick school, was born in the West Sussex town, and still lives in area. His autobiography was called Straight Outta Crawley.
In another previous episode of his podcast, Ranganathan was asked if he had the keys to Crawley.
"No I haven’t – Crawley has given me no recognition,” he replied.
"But I don’t want any recognition, and obviously they are not going to give it to me once I move to York.”
In the full episode, Romesh winds his mum up about moving to North Yorkshire, only to reveal to he wouldn’t leave Crawley.
You can find The Romesh Ranganathan Show, wherever you get your podcasts – including YouTube and Spotify.