Ranj Singh

Ranjit "Ranj" Singh (born 26 June 1979)[1][2] is a British doctor, television presenter, author and columnist. He is best known as a celebrity dancer on the BBC One dance series Strictly Come Dancing, and co-creating and presenting the CBeebies show Get Well Soon from 2012-15. He also appears on ITV This Morning, as a resident doctor, as well as co-hosting ITV Save Money: Good Health alongside Sian Williams.[3]

Dr. Ranj Singh
Born	Ranjit Singh 26 June 1979 Medway, Kent, England
Occupation	Doctor Television presenter
Employer	ITV NHS

Career

Singh is an NHS clinician, having trained in London and worked in several hospitals as a specialist in Paediatric Emergency Medicine[4] Singh became a member of The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in 2007.

His television career began in 2012, having become the presenter for Get Well Soon, a children's television show airing on CBeebies, which he co-created with Kindle Entertainment.[5][6] In 2016, the show received a children's BAFTA award in the Interactive - Adapted category.

Ranj has become a prominent contributor to factual programming and documentaries, appearing on This Morning as a resident doctor and on 20 July 2018, he was a guest presenter on the show, alongside Vanessa Feltz.[7] He has also contributed to a range of other programmes such as Inside Out, 5 News and Good Morning Britain. Ranj also appears regularly on various quiz shows and celebrity specials[8] and in 2017, he won BBC's Pointless Celebrities, alongside Dr. Hilary Jones.

In August 2018, it was announced that Singh would be a contestant on the sixteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing.[9] He was partnered with Janette Manrara and was the sixth contestant to be eliminated.[10] Following his stint on Strictly, Singh became host of his own medical advice show called 'Dr Ranj:ON Call' which began airing on ITV in March 2020.[11]

Outside of his work on Television, Singh has become the author of two children's educational books: Food Fuel[12] and Skelebones,[13] a Sunday Times bestselling cookbook[14] and is a contributor and columnist for Al Jazeera, Attitude magazine and NetDoctor.[15]

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Singh stepped back from his media work to focus on supporting the NHS in his role as a paediatric emergency medicine specialist.[16] During the crisis, Ranj regularly used his platform to debunk the rise in misleading information confusing parents and the general public, [17] with concern that many are being 'duped' by rumours with even celebrities sharing 'fake' information.[18]

He was one of the four competitors who took part in the Christmas special edition of The Great British Sewing Bee that was transmitted on Boxing day 2020 on BBC 1. His fellow competitors in the programme were Denise Van Outen, Shirley Ballas and Sara Pascoe.

Personal life

Singh grew up in a traditionally Sikh household, and focused on schoolwork gaining his first GCSE at just eight years old.[19] Singh is gay, having come out at the age of 30 in 2009, he discussed his sexuality in an interview for Attitude magazine in 2015 and in 2018 fronted the cover of Gay Times magazine as part of a special 'gaysian' celebration of LGBTQ Asians.[20] Ranj has been an advocate for LGBTQ rights, especially among minorities, and won the Attitute TV Award in 2019 where he spoke about how "People from ethnic minorities, people of colour, or LGBTQ people are still at a slight disadvantage" in the media.[21]

Ranj married Sulvinder Samra, a pharmacist, at a traditional Sikh ceremony in Nottingham in 2005, and divorced in 2011.[22]

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Network	Notes
2016–present	This Morning	Himself	ITV	Resident Doctor (57 episodes)
2020	Dr Ranj:On Call	Himself	ITV	(4 episodes)
2020	Sport Relief	Himself	BBC One	Special
2019-present	Lorraine	Himself	ITV	(2 episodes)
2019-20	Would I Lie to You?	Himself	BBC One	(3 episodes)
2020	Celebrity Mastermind	Himself	BBC One	Episode 6
2020	Celebrity Catchphrase	Himself	ITV	Christmas Special
2020	Celebrity Chase	Himself	ITV	Contestant (1 Episode)
2019	Celebrity Antiques Road Trip	Himself	BBC One	1 Episode
2018-19	Strictly Come Dancing	Himself	BBC One	Contestant (Eliminated Week 7)
2019	The Ranganation	Himself	BBC Two	1 Episode
2017-18	Loose Women	Himself	ITV	6 Episodes
2018	Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two	Himself	BBC Two	11 Episodes
2018	Saturday Mash-Up!	Himself	BBC Two & CBBC	1 Episode
2018	The One Show	Himself	BBC One	1 Episode
2017	Celebrity Eggheads	Himself	BBC Two	1 Episode
2012-15	Get Well Soon Hospital	Dr Ranj	CBeebies	15 Episodes
2016	Inside Out	Himself	BBC One	BBC West Midlands, Brexit Special
2012-15	Get Well Soon	Himself	CBeebies	13 Episodes
2015	The Wright Stuff	Himself	Channel 5	1 Episode
2013	This Week	Himself	BBC One	1 Episode

Bibliography

Non-fiction

• Save Money Lose Weight : London: Transworld Publishers: 2019: ISBN 9781473570726

Children's Non-fiction

• Food Fuel, Level 9 Illustrated by David Semple : London: Oxford University Press: 2015: ISBN 9780198306429
• Skelebones, Level 10 Illustrated by David Semple : London: Oxford University Press: 2015: ISBN 9780198306467

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Result
2019	Attitude Awards	Attitude TV Award	Won
2018	British Academy Children's Awards	Pre-School Live Action - Get Well Soon Hospital	Won
2016	British Academy Children's Awards	Interactive: Adapted - Get Well Soon Hospital App	Won

References

1. "Dr Ranj's Top Ten Questions And Answers". mumazine.com. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
2. @thismorning (26 June 2018). "After we caught you dressed like this in the studio, we're imagining you're going to have a good night!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
3. Nisbet, Megan (29 July 2018). "Dr Ranj real life uncovered away from ITV's This Morning". OK! magazine.
4. The Guardian (4 July 2018). "Confessions from A&E: Peppa Pig, the unsung hero of paediatric medicine - video". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
5. "Get Well Soon". CBeebies. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
6. "Dr Ranj Singh talks about his new CBeebies show, Get Well Soon". BBC Media Centre. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
7. Hughes, Roxanne (20 July 2018). "Vanessa Feltz STUNNED at Dr Ranj outburst as she admits fears for show". Daily Express.
8. IMDb. "Ranj Singh". IMDb. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
9. "Dr Ranj Singh is the seventh celebrity contestant confirmed for Strictly Come Dancing 2018". BBC Media Centre. 16 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
10. "Dr Ranj Singh becomes the sixth celebrity to leave Strictly". BBC Blogs. 4 November 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
11. Molina-White, Lidia. "Dr Ranj: On Call – Everything you need to know". Radio Times. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
12. Singh, Ranj; Semple, David (illustrator) (26 March 2015). Food Fuel. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0198306429.
13. Singh, Ranj; Semple, David (illustrator) (26 March 2015). Skelebones. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0198306467.
14. Penguin Books. "Save Money Lose Weight by Dr. Ranj Singh". Penguin Random House Canada. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
15. Singh, Ranj. "Dr Ranj Singh". NetDoctor. Hearst UK. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
16. Harvey-Jenner, Catriona. "Famous faces who have stepped up to work during the coronavirus crisis". nz.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
17. Singh, Dr Ranj. "Doctor's Note: Coronavirus myths and misconceptions". www.aljazeera.com.
18. Hodge, Lisa (3 April 2020). "TV Doctor warns parents not to be 'duped' over virus child separation fears". dailyrecord. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
19. BBC. "BBC One - Strictly Come Dancing - Dr Ranj Singh". BBC. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
20. Connolly, William J (20 November 2018). "Dr Ranj Singh Gaysians cover interview: "As queer Asians, we have so much to offer ourselves and to the wider world"". Gay Times.
21. Attitude (9 October 2019). "Attitude TV Award: Dr Ranj Singh". Attitude.co.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
22. "STRICTLY'S DR. RANJ SINGH: 'COMING OUT AS GAY TO MY WIFE WAS HARD, BUT TELLING MY FAMILY WAS ANOTHER LEVEL'". Attitude. 5 November 2018.

External links

• Ranj Singh at IMDb