Romesh Ranganathan says Celebrity Traitors charity backlash ‘galvanised’ support
Romesh Ranganathan and Bash Croft won The Celebrity Traitors (BBC/Studio Lambert/Paul Chappells)
Romesh Ranganathan has said the backlash to his Celebrity Traitors charity donation has “galvanised” support, after some viewers criticised the winners for giving their prize money to refugee charities.
Speaking on Sebastian “Bash” Croft’s Sunday Scaries podcast, Ranganathan and Croft discussed the online reaction after they won the BBC show’s second series. Each received £41,500, with Ranganathan donating his share to the Refugee Council and Croft donating his to Choose Love.
Ranganathan said the response had ultimately rallied people who thought the donations were a good thing. “Loads of people have come out in support. And actually, the people kicking off about it has kind of galvanised the people who think it’s a lovely thing,” he said.
He also recalled some of the messages he received after the final aired. “Somebody messaged me going, ‘Uh, read the room, retract your donation immediately, your career is in deep trouble’,” Ranganathan said, recounting a DM.
Why Romesh chose the Refugee Council
Ranganathan said he chose the Refugee Council because he was “fed up of the rhetoric against refugees” and felt refugees were being “demonised”.
“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,” he added.
Ranganathan also said it was a “coincidence” that both winners’ chosen charities were in the same sphere.
‘Imagine how difficult it is’ for refugees
Croft said the pair had not coordinated their choices during filming. “It was so funny when we got to the end, and we both realised, because no one really discussed [charities],” he said. “It wasn’t like we assumed we were gonna win.”
He added that the reaction made him think about what refugees face day to day. “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,” Croft said.
Choose Love supports LGBTQ+ refugees, with Croft saying the money would go to “predominantly queer refugees and displaced people”.
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