Anita Rani

Early life

Rani was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, and grew up in Heaton and Odsal. Her parents were Indian-born, and her father immigrated to the UK at the age of four. Her father is a Hindu and her mother is a Sikh. Her parents started a textile manufacturing business, where Rani and her siblings worked at times in their youth. The business failed in the 1990s.

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.

Rani was educated at Bradford Girls' Grammar School, an independent school. Rani developed an early interest in journalism, hosting her first show at the age of 14 on Sunrise Radio. She went to the University of Leeds, where she studied broadcasting.

Career

After leaving university Rani worked as a researcher for the BBC and other organisations.

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. 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. She was nominated as Best On Screen Personality at the Royal Television Society Midlands awards in 2005.

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.

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. In May 2006, Rani joined Sky Sports where she became co-presenter with Simon Thomas on the Cricket AM show each Saturday morning.

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.

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. 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. 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.

Between October and December 2015, Rani participated in the thirteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with Gleb Savchenko and reached the semi-final.

In 2016, Rani co-presented the three-part BBC Two series New York: America's Busiest City alongside Ant Anstead and Ade Adepitan. 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. Rani also serves as an ambassador for The Scout Association in the UK.

Since 15 January 2021, Rani has presented the Friday and Saturday editions of BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

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.

In May 2021, Rani became the presenter of Channel 4's daytime quiz show The Answer Trap.

In July 2021, Rani published her memoir The Right Sort of Girl, which made The Sunday Times Bestseller List.

In October 2022, Rani presented Channel 4's Aldi's Next Big Thing, alongside Chris Bavin and Julie Ashfield.

In April 2024, Rani was a guest co-host on the BBC quiz show Pointless alongside Alexander Armstrong.

In May 2025, Rani presented The Brontës by Anita Rani: Sisters of Disruption, a Sky Arts documentary about the Brontë sisters.

Personal life

In 2009 Rani married Bhupinder Rehal, a technology executive for an advertising agency. In 2020, Rani spoke of a miscarriage that she suffered in 2018. In September 2023, it was reported the couple had ended their relationship. Rani subsequently wrote about beginning the "Chapter Two" of her life. Rani lives in Hackney, east London.

On 8 March 2021, Rani announced that she had been made a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassador. In March 2023 Rani was installed as new chancellor of the University of Bradford.

Rani was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Leeds in July 2023.

Filmography

• Network East Late (2003) – Co-presenter
• Rogue Restaurants (2008) – Co-presenter
• Watchdog (2009–2010) – Co-presenter
• India on Four Wheels (2011) – Co-presenter
• The One Show (2011–2012, 2014–present) – Stand-in presenter and reporter
• Four Rooms (2011–2015) – Presenter
• The Great Sport Relief Bake Off (2012) – Contestant
• China on Four Wheels (2012) – Co-presenter
• Airport Live (2013) – Co-presenter
• No Sex Please, We're Japanese (2013) – Presenter
• Russia on Four Wheels (2014) – Presenter
• The Great Culture Quiz (2014) – Presenter
• Escape to the Continent (2014–present) – Co-presenter
• Countryfile (2015–present) – Co-presenter
• The World's Busiest Railway (2015) – Co-presenter
• Strictly Come Dancing (2015) – Contestant
• The Refugee Camp: Our Desert Home (2016) – Co-presenter
• This Morning Summer (2016) – Co-presenter
• New York: America's Busiest City (2016) – Co-presenter
• BBC Young Dancer (2017) – Co-presenter
• One Love Manchester (2017) – Co-presenter
• My Family, Partition and Me: India 1947 (2017) – Presenter
• World's Busiest Cities (2017) – Co-presenter
• Richard Osman's House of Games (2017) – Contestant
• The Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (2018) – Guest presenter
• Bollywood: The World's Biggest Film Industry (2018) – Presenter and co-creator
• Today at the Great Yorkshire Show (2019) – Co-presenter
• Celebrity Gogglebox (2020) – Herself
• The Chase Celebrity Special (2020) – Contestant
• Blankety Blank Christmas Special (2020) – Contestant
• The Victorian House of Arts and Crafts (2020) – Presenter
• James Martin’s Saturday Morning (2021) – Guest
• A Service Of Celebration For Commonwealth Day (2021) – Presenter
• Saved by a Stranger (2021–present) – Presenter
• The Answer Trap (2021) – Presenter
• Secret Spenders (2021–present) – Presenter
• Britain By Beach (2021–present) – Presenter
• The Wheel (2021, 2023) – Celebrity expert
• All Star Musicals (2021) – Competitor
• The Platinum Pageant (2022) – Reporter
• Fastest Finger First (2022) – Host
• The State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II (2022) – Reporter
• Aldi’s Next Big Thing (2022–2024) – Co-presenter
• Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort (2023) – Reporter
• D-Day 80: The Allies Prepare (2024) – Presenter
• My Life at Christmas with Anita Rani (2024–present) – Presenter
• The Brontës by Anita Rani: Sisters of Disruption (2025) – Presenter
• Celebrity Race Across the World (2025) – Contestant

Bibliography

• The Right Sort of Girl (Blink Publishing, 2021, )
• Baby Does A Runner (Zaffre, 2023, )

References

References

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2. (2024-03-15). "'Don't exclude yourself before you've given it a go': Anita Rani wants new 'voice of Bradford' to just be themselves".
3. Bennion, Chris. (17 May 2025). "Anita Rani interview: 'I've always felt I'm on the outside looking in'". The Telegraph.
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32. Rani, Anita. (8 June 2024). "Anita Rani: The trip that made me feel free again after divorce".
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34. (8 March 2021). "UK TV and Radio Broadcaster Anita Rani joins UNHCR as a Goodwill Ambassador".
35. Mistry, Pritti. (6 March 2023). "Bradford's Anita Rani 'overwhelmed' to be installed as uni's Chancellor". BBC News.
36. Teale, Steve. (7 March 2023). "Anita Rani installed as new Chancellor of University of Bradford". Yorkshire Post.
37. (18 July 2023). "Honorary Degrees 2023". University of Leeds.
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48. "ITV's All Star Musicals unveils a star-studded Christmas line up".
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52. (6 October 2022). "Who's Going To Be Aldi's Next Big Thing? New Channel 4 Show Sees Small British Producers Get Big Opportunity".
53. (11 April 2023). "BBC unveils special coverage and programming to mark Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort".
54. (5 June 2024). "Find out all about the D-Day 80 commemorative programming across the BBC".
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56. (22 August 2024). "Sky Arts unveils brand new shows across Music, Literature, Craft and Visual Art".
57. "Celebrity Race Across The World 2025 line-up and first look image revealed".
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