This Morning’s Dr Ranj once contemplated suicide before coming out as gay.
The 42-year-old whose real name is Ranjit Singh is one of the most recognisable TV doctor’s known for his appearances on the ITV show as well as being a presenter and co-creator of the CBeebies show, Get Well Soon.
The familiar face has always been candid when speaking about his life and opened up to Attitude UK about the difficulty he faced before coming out as gay to not only his family but his wife, Sulvinder Samra, whom he had met in his early 20s.
READ MORE: Man contracts life changing infection after dog poo left on pitch
The couple married in a Sikh ceremony in Nottingham but despite the couple enjoying several years of happiness together, it wasn’t long before Dr Ranj’s true feelings began to play on his mind again.
Dr Ranj said: “Our relationship was wonderful to start with. We were good for each other in many ways and we had a great time together.
"However, over time I think I started coming to the realisation that she wasn’t the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. Something just didn’t seem right and I couldn’t work it out.
"The cracks started appearing and I drifted away from her, although I remained faithful.
"Our relationship broke down and I started to feel like my life was unravelling. Then those feelings that I had ignored for so long began to surface and I didn’t know how to cope.
"I just remember feeling like I didn’t have any control over my life anymore and that I didn’t know who I was. I was a complete and utter mess - a very sad, destructive, angry mess."
Dr Ranj came out to his wife in 2009 at the age of 30 but not before dealing with an immense pressure that led him to contemplate suicide.
The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant added: “I came out of a straight relationship and started to accept who I actually was.
“I was truly broken. I felt like I was a really bad, horrible person just for being true to myself. In times like that, you have really dark thoughts and I did have times when I thought it would be easier not to be here.”
Dr Ranj explained if it wasn’t for the kindness and grace of his family, friends and the LGBTQ+ community, he wouldn’t have been able to ‘put himself together again’.
After making the jump from the medical world to the media industry, the star revealed how he encountered homophobic prejudice while working in the NHS.
He added: “The media industry is much more accepting, but I feel like the medical world has a little further to go.
“It’s a bit ironic that the caring profession could ever be prejudiced, but it does happen.
“People like myself and so many others are here to change that, though.”
Dr Ranj fronted the cover of Gay Times magazine as part of a special celebration of LGBTQ+ Asians and has been an advocate for LGBTQ rights for some time now, especially among minorities.
The media personality’s work didn’t go unnoticed as he won the Attitude TV Award in 2019.
R eceive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here.
