Anita Rani | |
---|---|
Born | Anita Rani Nazran 25 October 1977 Bradford, West Yorkshire, England |
Alma mater | University of Leeds |
Occupation(s) | Journalist, radio presenter, television presenter/personality |
Employer(s) | BBC, Channel 4 |
Title | Chancellor of University of Bradford |
Anita Rani Nazran (born 25 October 1977), [1] better known as Anita Rani, is a British radio and television presenter.
Rani was born and brought up in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, [1] to Indian-born parents. Her father is a Hindu and her mother is a Sikh. [2]
In an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? first broadcast on 1 October 2015 on BBC One, Rani investigated the history of her maternal grandfather Sant Singh (born Sant Ram, in Sarhali in 1916, died 1975), in particular learning more about his first wife and children, who died during the violence of the Partition of India in 1947, while he was a thousand miles away in Kirkee, serving in the British Indian Army, which he had joined in August 1942. Rani discovered that her maternal grandfather was born into a Hindu Taggar family, but converted to Sikhism as a young man in accordance with a custom prevalent at the time. He continued to serve in the Indian Army after Indian independence, retiring as a subedar (equivalent to a warrant officer) in 1970. [3]
Rani was educated at Bradford Girls' Grammar School, an independent school. [4] Rani developed an early interest in journalism, hosting her first show at the age of 14 on Sunrise Radio. [5] She went to the University of Leeds, where she studied broadcasting. [4]
After leaving university Rani worked as a researcher for the BBC and other organisations. [6]
In 2002, Rani presented The Edit, a live news and entertainment programme on Channel Five. She presented a number of pop shows on Five, including Spring Break Live, Party in the Park and Pop City Live, as well as being a freelance journalist for 5 News . [4] In spring 2003, she fronted The State We're In, a satirical current affairs programme on BBC Three. She also presented the first Poetry Slam on the same channel. [7] She was nominated as Best On Screen Personality at the Royal Television Society Midlands awards in 2005. [4]
Rani joined the BBC Asian Network radio station in March 2005, and became presenter of the weekend Hot Breakfast show. From April 2006 to March 2007 she presented the weekday morning talkback programme Anita Rani on the BBC Asian Network on the station. [8] [9]
In 2005, she was a regular reporter on The Cricket Show on Channel 4. From 20 May 2006, she was a co-presenter of Desi DNA , an arts programme on BBC Two catering to the Desi (British Asian) community. She launched Destination Three, a late night entertainment zone on BBC Three. [4] In May 2006, Rani joined Sky Sports where she became co-presenter with Simon Thomas on the Cricket AM show each Saturday morning. [4]
Rani presented My Generation Next, shown on BBC News 24 between 2 and 9 December 2006. She covered for Anita Anand on the late-evening weekday show on BBC Radio 5 Live in March and September 2007 and has presented World Have Your Say on the BBC World Service and Weekend Breakfast on Five Live. She has also covered on various shows for BBC Radio 6 Music. In August 2008, Rani was the co-presenter of Rogue Restaurants on BBC One and joined the team of roving reporters on The One Show . From 2 March 2009 she co-presented BBC One's Watchdog , succeeding Julia Bradbury.
From 2011 until 2015, Rani presented Four Rooms where unique objects are offered for sale to specialist dealers. In 2016, she was replaced by Sarah Beeny. [10]
Rani co-presented with Justin Rowlatt the two-part documentary travelogue India on Four Wheels, a road trip around India sampling the changes and problems that growing car usage has brought to the country in the last two decades. [11] This 2011 show was followed by similar collaborations with Rowlatt, China on Four Wheels (aired September 2012) and Russia on Four Wheels (aired January 2014).
In 2012, Rani took part in BBC's Great Sport Relief Bake Off, winning the competition. In 2013, she co-presented the live broadcast project Airport Live from Heathrow Airport. In April 2014, she was one of the presenters of BBC Two's Escape to the Continent.
Since 2015, she has co-hosted BBC's Countryfile . Rani co-presented The World's Busiest Railway 2015, alongside Dan Snow and Robert Llewellyn. The four-part series aired on BBC Two. [12] In 2016, she co-presented The Refugee Camp: Our Desert Home for BBC Two and presented This Morning for four Fridays in the summer alongside James Martin. [13] [14]
In 2016, Rani co-presented the three-part BBC Two series New York: America's Busiest City alongside Ant Anstead and Ade Adepitan. [15] She presented My Family, Partition and Me: India 1947, a two-part programme on BBC One. She co-presented World's Busiest Cities in 2017 with Dan Snow and Ade Adepitan.
In 2018, she was honoured with Outstanding Achievement in Television at The Asian Awards. [16] Rani also serves as an ambassador for The Scout Association in the UK. [17]
Since 15 January 2021, Rani has presented the Friday and Saturday editions of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour . [18]
On 24 February 2021, Rani was a guest on BBC Radio 4 interview show Gossip And Goddesses With Granny Kumar, where she said that her Indian name is Neetu, after the Indian actress Neetu Singh. [19]
On 8 March 2021, Rani announced that she had been made a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassador. [20]
In May 2021, Rani became the presenter of C4 daytime quiz show The Answer Trap. [21]
In July 2021, Rani published her memoir The Right Sort of Girl, which made The Sunday Times Bestseller List. [22]
In October 2022, Rani presented Channel 4's Aldi's Next Big Thing, alongside Chris Bavin and Julie Ashfield. [23]
In November 2022, Rani was named as the new chancellor of the University of Bradford. [24] She was installed at a ceremony in March 2023 and appeared on the front page of The Times . Speaking on the day of her installation, she said: "The University of Bradford is about to move into a really exciting phase, I’m thrilled to be part of that journey, and that I get to be Chancellor during City of Culture 2025." [25]
Rani was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Leeds in July 2023. [26]
In April 2024, Rani was a guest co-host on the BBC quiz show Pointless alongside Alexander Armstrong. [27]
Between October and December 2015, Rani participated in the thirteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing , [2] partnered with Gleb Savchenko and reached the semi-final.
Week | Dance | Music | Judges' scores [a] | Total score | Result | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Cha-cha-cha | "Rather Be" — Clean Bandit, feat. Jess Glynne | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 | Safe |
2 | Charleston | "Pencil Full of Lead" — Paolo Nutini | 7 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 27 | Safe |
3 | American Smooth | "Unchained Melody" (from Ghost) | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 29 | Safe |
4 | Samba | "Hips Don't Lie" — Shakira | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 27 | Safe |
5 | Tango | "Sweet Disposition" — The Temper Trap | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 32 | Safe |
6 | Waltz | "Once Upon a Dream" — Lana Del Rey | 6 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 29 | Safe |
7 | Jive | "The Boy Does Nothing" — Alesha Dixon | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 34 | Safe |
8 | Quickstep | "Don't Get Me Wrong" — The Pretenders | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 32 | Safe |
9 | Paso doble | "Malagueña" — Connie Francis | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 37 | Safe |
10 | Rumba | "Read All About It, Pt. III" — Emeli Sandé | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 31 | Safe |
Quickstep-athon (Quickstep Marathon) | "Sing Sing Sing" — The Andrews Sisters | — | 4 [b] | |||||
11 | Argentine tango | "Cell Block Tango" (from Chicago) | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 31 | Safe |
12 (Semi-final) | Foxtrot | "New York, New York" — Frank Sinatra | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 32 | Eliminated |
Salsa | "Feel This Moment" — Pitbull, feat. Christina Aguilera | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 32 |
Rani lives in Hackney, east London. [28] She was previously married to Bhupinder Rehal, a technology executive for an advertising agency. [3]
In 2020, Rani spoke of a miscarriage that she suffered in 2018. [29]
In September 2023, it was reported the couple had ended their relationship. [30] [31] [32]
In August 2014, Rani was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue. [33]
Gaby Roslin is an English television and radio presenter who rose to fame co-presenting The Big Breakfast on Channel 4 between 1992 and 1996. Roslin also presented the Children in Need charity telethons on the BBC between 1995 and 2004.
Kathryn Mary Draper-Garraway is an English broadcaster and journalist. In the 1990s, Garraway was a journalist for ITV News Central and later a co-presenter of ITV News Meridian. From 2000 to 2010, she co-presented GMTV. Currently, Garraway is the presenter of Mid Mornings with Kate Garraway on Smooth Radio and newsreader and co-anchor of the ITV Breakfast programme Good Morning Britain.
Susan Elizabeth Perkins is an English actress, broadcaster, comedian, presenter and writer. Originally coming to prominence through her comedy partnership with Mel Giedroyc in Mel and Sue, she progressed into radio and television presenting, notably of The Great British Bake Off (2010–2016), Insert Name Here (2016–2019) and Just a Minute on BBC Radio 4.
Alison Hammond is a British television presenter and actress. She competed in the third series of the reality show Big Brother in 2002, in which she was the second housemate to be evicted. She has since become a presenter and reporter on ITV's This Morning (2002–present) and a co-presenter on the Channel 4 reality baking competition The Great British Bake Off (2023–present). In January 2024, it was announced that Hammond would take over For the Love of Dogs from Paul O'Grady, following his death in March 2023.
Gabrielle Nicole Logan is a Welsh television and radio presenter, and a former rhythmic gymnast who represented Wales and Great Britain. She hosted Final Score for BBC Sport from 2009 until 2013. She has also presented live sports events for the BBC, including a revived episode of Superstars in December 2012 and the London Marathon since 2015. Since 2013, she has co-hosted Sports Personality of the Year for the BBC and she presented the second series of The Edge in 2015.
Melanie Clare Sophie Giedroyc is an English actress, comedienne and television presenter.
Patrick Joseph McGuinness is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television and radio presenter. He rose to fame with the help of fellow comedian Peter Kay, who invited him to appear on the television comedy series That Peter Kay Thing (2000), and the sitcoms Phoenix Nights (2000–2001) and Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere (2004). McGuinness went on to present various television shows, including Take Me Out (2010–2019), 71 Degrees North (2011), Paddy's TV Guide (2013), Top Gear (2019–2022), I Can See Your Voice (2021–2022), and Question of Sport (2021–2023).
Seán Dermot Fintan O'Leary is a British-Irish broadcaster. He presented the television talent show The X Factor on ITV from 2007 until its final series in 2018, with the exception of 2015. Since 2021, O'Leary has presented ITV's This Morning on Fridays, school holidays and bank holidays alongside Alison Hammond, a role expanded to the remainder of the week on a rotation with the departures of Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby in the summer and autumn of 2023.
This Morning is a British daytime magazine programme that is broadcast on ITV. It debuted on 3 October 1988 and is broadcast live every weekday from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm across the United Kingdom, and in Ireland by Virgin Media One. The programme features a variety of news, showbiz, fashion, health and beauty, lifestyle, home and garden, food, tech, live phone-ins, and competitions.
Countryfile is a British television programme which airs weekly on BBC One and reports on rural, agricultural, and environmental issues.
Holly Marie Willoughby is an English television presenter, author and model. She has presented various television shows for ITV, most notably This Morning (2009–2023) and Dancing on Ice.
Margherita Taylor is an English TV and radio presenter. She is a freelancer with Global Group and currently presents on stations Smooth Radio and Classic FM.
Susanna Reid is an English television presenter and journalist. She was a co-presenter of BBC Breakfast from 2001 until 2014 alongside Bill Turnbull and Charlie Stayt. In 2013, she finished as a runner-up on the eleventh series of Strictly Come Dancing alongside dance-partner Kevin Clifton. Since 2014, Reid has been the lead presenter of the ITV Breakfast programme Good Morning Britain alongside Kate Garraway, Richard Madeley, Ed Balls and formerly Piers Morgan and Ben Shephard. She also presented Sunday Morning Live on BBC One from 2010 to 2011.
Elizabeth Bonnin is a French-Irish science, wildlife and natural history presenter, who has worked on television in both Ireland and the United Kingdom. She presented morning show RI:SE and music show Top of the Pops in the early 2000s.
Julia Michele Bradbury is an English television presenter, employed by the BBC and ITV, specialising in documentaries and consumer affairs. Her passion is the outdoors. More recently, following her cancer diagnosis and surgery, Bradbury is dedicating her time to healthy living and nature therapy.
Sean Fletcher is an American-English journalist, and television presenter best known as a presenter on Good Morning Britain and on Countryfile.
Ranvir Singh is a British journalist and television presenter. She is a newsreader and presenter for Good Morning Britain, presenter of Riddiculous and a relief presenter of Lorraine.
Helen Elizabeth Skelton is an English television presenter appearing regularly on BBC1's Morning Live.
Eleanor Harrison is an English television presenter, best known for co-presenting Countryfile since 2009.
Ross Richard "Rylan" Clark is an English broadcaster and television personality. He came to prominence as a contestant on the ninth series of the television talent show The X Factor in 2012, which he finished in fifth place. The following year, he appeared on the eleventh series of the reality television show Celebrity Big Brother, which he won.
Journalist Anita Rani never met her maternal grandfather Sant Singh – all she has been told is that he suffered terrible tragedy at the time of India's Partition. Anita's mother also tells her that Sant had another wife and family before marrying Anita's grandmother. Armed with this knowledge, Anita travels to India to see if she can find out more about her grandfather's first family – and discover what happened to them during Partition.