Romesh Ranganathan given ‘shameless’ gift by Rob Beckett on first Radio 2 show
Comedian Romesh Ranganathan was presented with a giraffe costume to wear during the London Marathon on his new BBC Radio 2 show.
Ranganathan, 46, who is running on Sunday, told his first celebrity guest Rob Beckett that the fellow comedian was “shameless” in his choice of gift.
Beckett’s upcoming stand-up tour is called Giraffe and to promote it he wore an inflatable giraffe costume to the Brit Awards last month.
The 38-year-old told Ranganathan: “I’ve got you a present Rom, to say well done on your new show and it’s just nice to get someone a present.”
Ranganathan responded: “It’s a giant giraffe adult costume.
“Let’s get to the bottom of that. I mean, it’s just absolutely shameless by you. You knew you’re gonna get a plug for your tour.”
The pair star in Sky comedy series Rob & Romesh Vs and last year hosted the Bafta TV awards ceremony together.
Ranganathan has taken over the Radio 2 Saturday morning slot from Strictly Come Dancing and Traitors host Claudia Winkleman, who left the station last month.
Opening his very first show he admitted that he felt “very” nervous and said that everyone would miss Winkleman.
“Welcome to my brand new show. This is me Romesh Ranganathan,” the Weakest Link presenter said.
“I don’t know if you can tell, I’m very, very nervous because I’m excited. Saturday mornings with me and you, and I want to get to know you.
“I’m brand new to Saturday mornings. I know you guys will be listening to this slot thinking, ‘Oh, am I going to miss Claudia?’
“We all will miss Claudia but I’m here to get to know you, and hopefully, you’ll realise ‘he’s different, but he’s still good’. So I want you to know a bit about me.”
Ranganathan was also joined by traffic and travel reporter Sally Boazman, known as Sally Traffic, and he offered her some custom-made trainers.
The shoes featured a painting of her favourite motorway stop, Tebay Services in Penrith, and her favourite route, the M40.
Ranganathan is also known for BBC One comedy series Avoidance and his Radio 2 series Romesh Ranganathan: For The Love Of Hip Hop.
