Former This Morning star Dr Ranj Singh has opened up with striking honesty about one of the most emotional and defining chapters of his life — the moment he accepted his sexuality while still married, and the painful journey that followed as the life he had carefully built began to change forever.
The television doctor, who became a familiar and trusted face on ITV’s This Morning between 2016 and 2021, has spoken candidly about the personal turning point that forced him to confront a truth he had carried quietly for years.
Known to viewers for his warmth, professionalism and reassuring presence on screen, Dr Ranj has now revealed the deeply human story behind the public image — a story of marriage, fear, therapy, family reaction and the difficult road towards self-acceptance.
The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant was previously married to a woman, and he has described their wedding day as one of the happiest days of his life. But behind the appearance of a perfect life, Dr Ranj said something still felt incomplete.
By the time he reached around 30, he had achieved many of the things he believed would bring him fulfilment. He had built the career he had always dreamed of. He had created a home of his own. On paper, he had reached the place he once thought he was supposed to be.
But inside, questions remained.
Speaking to The Big Issue, Dr Ranj explained that he had reached a point where everything looked right from the outside — yet something inside him still did not feel settled.
He said he had “ticked all the boxes” he had once imagined would make him happy. He had the career, the home and the life plan. But then came the question that would change everything: why was he still not completely happy?
That question, he said, became impossible to ignore.
Therapy eventually helped him uncover what had been buried beneath years of expectation, pressure and imagined certainty. Through that process, Dr Ranj realised he was not the person he had once believed he should be — or the person he thought he was destined to become.
It was not simply a moment of discovery. It was a moment of emotional upheaval.
The doctor admitted that accepting his sexuality was frightening. He described the experience as feeling like everything was “fracturing” and then “falling apart” — a powerful image of a life being broken open so that the truth could finally come through.
For Dr Ranj, the revelation did not happen in isolation. He was married at the time, meaning his journey towards self-acceptance also carried consequences for those closest to him.
He first came out as gay to a close friend, before later telling his wife and then his family. What followed was not just the end of a marriage, but the beginning of an entirely new and deeply emotional chapter.
The breakdown of the relationship was painful, and Dr Ranj has acknowledged that the situation was incredibly difficult. While he was coming to terms with his identity, he also had to face the impact it would have on his wife, friends and family.
“It happened when I’d got to where I thought I was supposed to be,” he reflected, explaining how unsettling it was to realise that the life he had built was not truly his perfect life after all.
His words capture the quiet tragedy of reaching a dream only to discover it does not belong to you in the way you thought it would.
The hardest part, he suggested, was not only accepting the truth himself, but telling the people who had built their expectations around the version of him they thought they knew.
Dr Ranj has previously spoken about growing up in an Indian Sikh household, where coming out brought an added layer of emotional complexity. While telling his wife was deeply challenging, he said telling his family was “another level.”
For many people, the fear of disappointing loved ones can be overwhelming. For Dr Ranj, that fear was tied to culture, family, tradition and the emotional weight of changing the future everyone had imagined.
But in the midst of that fear came a moment of unexpected beauty.
He has remembered his brothers reacting positively to his news, describing it as a deeply moving and “beautiful moment.” Their support helped him step further into his authentic self at a time when everything else felt uncertain.
His friends, too, offered him love and acceptance. Their reaction became part of the foundation that allowed him to begin living more freely and honestly.
Yet the story was not without pain on the other side.
During Dr Ranj’s time on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018, his former father-in-law spoke publicly about the impact of the marriage breakdown on the family. Mr Samra told the Daily Mail that seeing Dr Ranj on television still brought back painful memories.
He said that whenever he saw him on screen, he would either turn the television off, change the channel or walk out of the room. He admitted that although many years had passed and he had accepted what happened, it remained difficult.
His comments revealed the lingering emotional cost felt by those connected to the marriage — a reminder that personal truth, while necessary, can also leave heartbreak in its wake.
That is what makes Dr Ranj’s story so powerful. It is not presented as simple or painless. It is not a polished celebrity confession wrapped in easy answers. It is a story about what happens when the life someone is expected to live collides with the truth of who they really are.
For Dr Ranj, the journey towards self-acceptance came with fear, grief and the difficult process of rebuilding. But it also brought freedom.
The former This Morning presenter has since embraced his identity more openly. Last year, the 46-year-old made his relationship Instagram official with his partner James Colebrook, an actor. Since then, the couple have shared glimpses of their romance with followers, offering a look at a happier and more settled chapter in his life.
After years of private struggle, Dr Ranj now appears to be living with greater honesty and peace.
His story has resonated because it touches on something universal: the painful courage it can take to admit that the life others see as perfect may not be the life that truly belongs to you.
For viewers who knew him only as the bright, compassionate doctor on daytime television, his confession reveals a deeper and more vulnerable side. Behind the smile was a man wrestling with identity, expectation and the fear of hurting people he cared about.
And yet, by speaking openly now, Dr Ranj has transformed a painful chapter into a message of self-acceptance.
His journey is one of heartbreak, but also one of bravery. It is about a marriage that ended, a family conversation that felt terrifying, and a man who finally found the courage to stop living as the person he thought he was supposed to be.
In the end, Dr Ranj’s story is not just about coming out. It is about the emotional cost of truth, the power of support, and the long road towards becoming whole.
For him, the perfect life he once imagined had to fall apart before he could begin building the one that was truly his own.
