Romesh Ranganathan felt ‘deeply uncomfortable’ kissing co-star

Watch Romesh Ranganathan say he felt ‘deeply uncomfortable’ kissing co-star

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Romesh Ranganathan has confessed he felt “deeply uncomfortable” kissing his co-star Aisling Bea in comedy series Avoidance.

The comedian was discussing the second series of BBC show Avoidance with Lorraine Kelly on her daytime TV show on Tuesday. Addressing the romance in the series, the TV host approached the difficulties actors face when they have to kiss their friends.

Cheeky Ranganathan admitted kissing his friend Aisling Bea was "deeply uncomfortable" but he was quick to clarify she is great, lovely and attractive. Tongue in cheek, he said: "I don't want that going viral!" Then the star shared his reasoning behind why it felt strange kissing his friend for the cameras.

What, how and why?

Kelly probed saying: "It’s always quite difficult when you have to do romantic scenes with your pal? Yeah. It’s a bit…"

Ranganathan had huge praise for his co-star Bea and he said they were "lucky" to get her signed up to the show. He said: "Aisling Bea is in it. We were really lucky to get her in it. I think Aisling is amazing. She came into the show as Jonathan’s distraction I guess, another love interest."

Then the actor addressed the TV host's difficult question about filming romantic scenes with a friend. He said: "We had a scene where we had to kiss. And I’m really good mates with Aisling. It was just…" Pausing for drama, he then added: "Deeply uncomfortable."

Quickly, Ranganathan clarified: "Not because Aisling is great, and lovely and an attractive woman. I don’t want that going viral!"

The comedian lifted the lid on why it felt strange kissing his friend. He said: "But yeah, it’s that weird thing when you’ve been mates for such a long time. And then kissing, it feels strange. Kissing anyone apart from my wife feels strange. Kissing my wife feels strange! That feels like a novelty as well."

A big fan of kissing, he went on: "Yeah kissing is great. I would love to get involved in a campaign to get kissing back out there. I do sometimes come back from work and we don’t kiss and after a while we do. And then you kiss. It’s nice isn’t it."

Kelly added: "A long intense one, not just a peck."

He responded: "I think it depends on what’s required. Different situations merits a different lighter kiss or in the middle kiss. I think as couples we should be coming up with menus of what sort of kiss we think is appropriate. I might just start that here."

What else did Romesh say?

Ranganathan revealed his first name is Jonathan, the name given to the character he plays in Avoidance. "Romesh is actually my middle name," he explained. "Jonathan is a version of me. Basically, his main character flaw is that he’s a bit of a people pleaser, he’s a conflict avoider, that’s something I’ve got by the bucket load…"

The comedian explained how his character on-screen has a lot of similarities to him in real life. He added: "Jonathan is more like me than I would like. I thought to myself that Jonathan is a version of me that is quite far removed. The truth is, as I watch it, it’s fairly close!"

Cheeky Kelly was keen to find out whether he wears as much lycra as his TV character. Ranganathan was quick to set the record straight saying: "No. That is the one thing I would say I’m not into."

The presenter explained why he had decided to make his character wear lycra, not really thinking that he would be the one wearing it. He said: "It’s one of those things when you write a thing and then you’re in it. When we’re writing it, I saw a lot of guys getting into cycling and I said to the guys, wouldn't it be funny? When the costume turned up, I thought it’s me who’s got to wear it? It’s not comfortable, you can feel it everywhere."

Kelly however concluded that Ranganathan looked great in lycra. "That's very kind," Ranganathan said.

Watch Lorraine week days at 9am on ITV1.

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