Romesh Ranganathan lands another huge new show after bumper year on TV

HE’S on virtually every channel from the BBC to ITV and Sky, now Romesh Ranganathan has bagged another show.

He’s returning to Sky, this time for a travelogue called Can’t Knock the Hustle which features the funnyman journeying around the globe.

The show will see him investigate the work-life balance of people in different countries and cultures within our modern world.

The four-parter will air on Sky Max and NOW next year and will also feature footage from Romesh’s debut arena tour, Hustle.

Talking about his latest TV adventure, he said:  “Stand ups often deliver a show completely unchecked by logic.

“We decided to film a series exploring what I’d said on stage and whether I was right. This show confirms the suspicion that I often don’t know what I’m talking about.”

The mission will see him go from  India to the  US, South Korea to Canada interrogating, unravelling and debunking some of the theories he comes up with during his stand-up routines.

It’s described as essentially being a “fact check” of his own shows and is produced by Ranga Bee, the production house set up by Romesh.

They’re the company who already make his ITV gameshow, Parents’ Evening, featuring him with his mum, as well as BBC comedy Avoidance and Sky comedy Romantic Comedy.

But Romesh’s roster also includes The Weakest Link on BBC One and he’s just wrapped on the final series of the Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan on BBC Two.

And of course he’s just made the seventh series Rob and Romesh Vs, with his old chum Rob Beckett, whom he hosts the TV Baftas with.

Plus he’ll be back hosting sports panel show A League of Their Own, also on Sky from January 9.

I’m amazed he finds the time to leave the TV studio, let alone travel the world.

TITAN SUB DISASTER EXPLORED FOR DOC

A FILM about the OceanGate Titan submersible disaster is to screen next year.

And in a powerful twist, it will be directed by the last man to see the crew alive.

In June 2023, the vessel carried five people into the depths of the North Atlantic to explore the wreckage of the Titanic. 

But within around 90 minutes of the dive, the vessel lost communication with its mother ship, sparking a rescue mission that captivated the world.

Filmmaker Aron Arngrimsson waved the group on their way and closed the hatch of the submersible.

Press information on the as-yet-untitled documentary says Arngrimsson “captures the fateful journey unfolding minute by minute through first-hand footage from the moment Titan began its tragic expedition.

“He tells the emotional experience of the five Titan crew members, revealing the family stories and exposing the painful consequences of an exploration gone wrong.”

Four days after the disaster, the wreckage of the Titan was found and an investigation revealed that the craft had imploded on descent, killing everyone on board.

A haunting image from the time showed a section of the submersible’s tail cone sitting on the ocean floor.

Two other projects on the disaster are in the works, a docuseries and a fictional adaptation.

LOVE Island All Stars will kick off on ITV2 and ITVX on January 13. 

Channel chiefs announced the much-anticipated date on social media addressed to “dating royalty” – and it immediately sent fans into a spin.

The series will return to South Africa and have Maya Jama as host.

YOU WEAR KNIT WELL, CLAUDIA

YOU know it’s time for The Traitors when Claudia Winkleman swaps her Strictly glad rags for cosy knitwear.

And here she is wearing one heck of a woolly pully – featuring the logo from her smash BBC One show.

The presenter was snapped in the custom sweater at the launch of the new series at the Electric Cinema in London’s Notting Hill.

The programme’s long-awaited third run begins on New Year’s Day.

And in case you fancy copying Claudia’s look, she helpfully tagged Scottish knitwear firm Rowan Walker on her Instagram page.

Perfect for the Faithfuls in your life this Christmas.

FUTURE’S ORANGE, SAYS DAN

STRICTLY is over for another year but former contestant Dan Walker has warned this season’s cast they will have a reminder of their time on the floor for a good while yet.

The Channel 5 presenter – who reached the telly dance contest’s semi-final stage with pro Nadiya Bychkova in 2021 – has confessed it took him ages to be rid of the show’s infamous fake tan.

He said: “I had orange toenails for about six months after Strictly.

“You have to wait for it to grow out but having not fake tanned previously, I didn’t know that was an issue.

“It’s a slippery slope, you’ve got to get the regular pedicures to cover it up.”

So Dan’s not considering a little glow-up to get through the colder months?

Laughing, he said: “My final ever spray tan was the final one of Strictly and I’d like to keep it that way.”

ANITA: I’D DO IT ALL A-GEN

EASTENDERS’ legendary landlady Angie Watts could be very scary ­– just ask Dirty Den.

But Anita Dobson, who played the original fiery Walford matriarch, says it’s her latest role as a zombie that gives her the chills.

Discussing her part in Channel 4 comedy-horror Generation Z, Anita said: “I did find it quite scary watching it back as some of the scenes I wasn’t involved in, I hadn’t obviously seen when they were shot and they were gory.”

Despite that she is keen for round two. She added: “But I really got into it. It sort of brings out all the angst, you know, you could just let rip.

“You could think about the things that made you angry, the way the world’s going.”

She could still leave Dirty Den quaking in his boots.

AMANDA CHEESY

AMANDA HOLDEN kicks up a stink on Mary Makes Christmas tonight.

While sharing her culinary favourites with Mary Berry on the BBC One show, the Britain’s Got Talent judge makes a frank admission.

Amanda says: “I do love a Stinking Bishop.

“It’s a smelly cheese, really putrid but really tasty – I am like Wallace and Gromit when it comes to cheese.”

She added: “I love Christmas pudding. I have collected sixpenny bits and I have had them for years.

“I wrap them in tin foil and we put them in the pudding but whoever finds them has to give them back for the next year.”

Surely, Amanda can afford to let her guests keep them?