Romantic Getaway – 7 Questions with Romesh Ranganathan and Katherine Ryan: 'I want us to get national treasure status'

Kicking off 2023 with some big laughs is Sky Comedy crime caper Romantic Getaway.

Starring two of the nation's busiest and best loved comics Romesh Ranganathan and Katherine Ryan as a couple who end up on the run with £500,000 of stolen cash, the series is a joyous romp.

Featuring an outrageous performance from Johnny Vegas as their dodgy boss and a wild dive into Reading’s criminal underworld, the comedy series is the perfect way to start 2023.

We caught up with Romesh and Katherine to chat about Romantic Getaway, cryptocurrency, and New Year resolutions for 2023.

1. This is your first TV show together – have you wanted to collaborate for a long while?

Romesh: Katherine and I are BFFs. We’re really good friends. Our comedy careers have run in parallel, but over and above that we’re really good friends. I always really wanted to work with Katherine, but we didn’t know what it was.

Katherine just reminded me of this pilot we did a long while ago for a topical late-night show, but when we came up with the idea for this series, I really wanted it to be Katherine. She’s a really good mate and this was a good excuse to spend two months hanging out with each other.

2. How does Katherine compare to your other double acts with Rob Beckett and Tom Davis?

Romesh: The difference is that Katherine is a comedian in her own right, whereas Rob and Tom are just tag alongs really. They’re very much in my shadow. I think Katherine is the lead in the double act. She’s much more of a force in Romantic Getaway than my character.

And in terms of who I’d rather hang out with, I’d much rather hang out with Katherine Ryan than either Rob or Tom. I’ll go on record saying that.

Katherine: When we hang out, we usually have the children. We haven’t been to the pub or a travel show where we really get to get away. I wonder if in my older age I can become really fun and become one of the lads.

Romesh: I want us to get national treasure status. At the moment if you do a travel show you have to do something horrible and challenging. When you get older and more accepted it can be, ‘Romesh and Katherine do Luxury Hotels’. I’d like to do that.

3. How much of Johnny Vegas’s performance in Romantic Getaway is improvised?

Romesh: I can confirm that is just Johnny being Johnny. He plays such a thunderprick in this, he was able to just get stuck into it. He would go off on and start shouting and it was really hard not to corpse in scenes with him.

I genuinely can’t think of anyone better than Johnny Vegas to play that part.

4. Your characters have trouble with crypto – have either of you dabbled in Bitcoin?

Katherine: I don’t understand crypto at all, but maybe I’m out of the loop. I came to Insta really late and I didn’t listen to podcasts when everyone else did. I never believe anything will be the next thing until it is. I have to be informed by my teenage daughter.

I think my husband had a little bit of crypto as a hobby but I don’t ask questions about that. He could be stashing away zillions of crypto bucks and I don’t even know about it.

Romesh: The reason crypto is in the script is that Ben Green who helped write the series is into crypto. I don’t understand it, I don’t want anything to do with it. I’m out of the crypto game. If anyone is thinking about getting me into the game, it’s a shut door. And NFTS, they can f**k off as well.

5. What are your New Year resolutions for 2023?

Katherine: I would like to start drinking again. I feel like I’ve been pregnant or breastfeeding for the better part of three years. I hope there’s a small window in 2023 where I can get completely liquored up in my new home.

Romesh: This time next year you’re going to be talking to an accomplished chef and DJ. Those are my two resolutions.

I do a Radio 2 show and I got challenged to make a mix in the last show and the producers were laughing at my mixes. I have now made it my resolution that I will be a good hip-hop DJ.

And I want to be a good chef, because I cooked at the weekend and it was an absolute travesty.

6. Will there be a Romantic Getaway season 2?

Romesh: Katherine, I’m up for it?

Katherine: Definitely. I feel like we should just start saying that there is a series 2 and then it becomes harder for the channel to not commission another series.

Romesh: Yeah, I’m really excited about series 2. It’s up to Sky if they want to make us unexcited.

7. How do you balance all your TV work and touring with parenting and not get stressed?

Katherine: Our job is the fun. From my side, doing comedy whether its scripted or touring, that work is much easier than being a home and looking after the baby. I can see why people keep their diaries full.

We’re in a lovely position. People bring us tea. You get to go to the toilet alone. I find work very, very relaxing compared to the laborious, but existentially rewarding challenge of raising a family.

Romesh: I manage it by being a negligent father and husband. That’s how I get by.

I agree with Katherine. I don’t get stressed at work. I want the work to be good and try my hardest, but nobody lives or dies by what we do. It can be a bit under the gun in terms of the schedule and I can get rattled by that, but in terms of the work – you can’t get stressed making a crime caper in Reading.

Katherine is an incredibly dedicated mum, and I try my best. I just try to make the time I have really count. One of the things I contend with is going home and being knackered, but remembering that isn’t your kids fault. But I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t always managed it perfectly.

I think if you are conscious of it, that’s good enough, even if you’re s**t. If you’re s**t, and you know you’re s**t, it’s okay.

Stream Romantic Getaway on Sky Comedy with NOW from Sunday, 1 January.

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