Romesh Ranganathan has responded to the backlash he received over his choice of charity, which left some Celebrity Traitors viewers “angry”.
The comedian won the second series of the BBC reality show alongside Sebastian “Bash” Croft, and both stars decided to donate their £41,500 winnings to refugee charities.
Podcast discussion
Appearing on Bash’s Sunday Scaries podcast, the pair discussed their respective donations and both the support and backlash they received in return.
Ranganathan, who donated half the prize pot to the Refugee Council, said: “Look, people have different opinions, but I feel like [refugees are] a distraction tactic, and people are being pointed in that direction for something to blame, is my personal opinion.”
Charity motivation
The 48-year-old said he decided to get involved in the charity as he became “so fed up with the rhetoric against refugees”.
Ranganathan said he has received comments calling his charity choice a “disgrace” and calling himself and Bash “the real Traitors all along”, though added that they mainly just made him laugh.
He said that whilst many people online voiced their “angry” opinions at the pair’s respective decisions, they also saw a wave of support.
Positive response
“The people kicking off about it has kind of galvanised the people that really think it's a lovely thing,” he added. “I think that discussion, that back and forth, has actually been really positive.”
Meanwhile Bash, who donated his winnings to Choose Love, a charity that provides humanitarian aid and advocacy for refugees and displaced people globally, said: “It felt like such a nice moment at the time, but then to see the response, what it made me realise is that's people's response to a game show donating money to people who are really vulnerable. Imagine how difficult it is for those people navigating that system.”
The 24-year-old first became involved in the organisation at the age of 15.
Coincidence
Ranganathan also revealed that neither he nor the musician had coordinated their charity choices, describing it as pure “coincidence” that both decided to support refugee organisations.
Choose Love later shared a clip of the podcast moment on their Instagram page, saying both winners had chosen “love over hate”.
