He graduated from University College London and in 1993 received the Royal College of Psychiatrists Research Prize and Medal.

Dr Persaud provoked controversy last year when a survey revealed that men aspire to a life of monogamy, marriage and parenting, rejecting the drunken one-night-stand culture of "laddism".

He said: "This data goes directly against the stereotyped view of men...that men are not interested in long-term relationships, have difficulty with commitment and prefer to play the field."

He has published over 60 research papers in journals such as the British Medical Journal and the Lancet. He writes regularly for a variety of newspapers and is a columnist for Cosmopolitan magazine and a contributing editor to Men's Health magazine.

He is resident psychiatrist on Granada TV's 'This Morning with Richard and Judy' and has appeared on and presented various television and radio programmes.

When the Channel Four programme Big Brother hit our screens last year Raj Persaud criticised the show saying that contestants are being subjected to potentially dangerous levels of stress.