Overview
- Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian Croft said on Sebastian Croft’s Sunday Scaries podcast on Tuesday that each had given £41,500 of the £83,000 prize to refugee charities and that their choices were coincidental rather than coordinated.
- Ranganathan explained he became involved with the Refugee Council because he was fed up with hostile rhetoric about refugees and said the online anger had been amplified but had also 'galvanised' supporters.
- Some broadcasters and commentators criticised the donations as misdirected, with claims that the Refugee Council had already received substantial public funding and calls for more support for smaller or domestic charities.
- Choose Love and the Refugee Council publicly backed the winners, other celebrities responded with donations — including Maya Jama matching the prize pot for Action for Children — and Ranganathan reportedly made an additional private gift to the Blue Marine Foundation.
- The episode has widened the post-show conversation about how celebrities spend prize money, how media outlets frame refugee issues, and the practical effect of small televised gifts in drawing attention and further funds to humanitarian causes.