Anita Rani's Biography

Anita Rani was born on October 25, 1977 in Bradford.

Her mother is Sikh and her father is Hindu.

They had a manufacturing business.

Her paternal grandfather was moved to England from India in the 1950s.

Her late uncle was the artist Govinder Nazran.

Anita Rani studied broadcasting at Leeds University before going on to work in TV in a variety of roles before becoming a presenter on the likes of Cricket AM on Sky Sports, Four Rooms on Channel Four, and Watchdog on the BBC.

Her other notable credits include co-presenting BBC One’s Countryfile.

In 2015, Anita Rani became one of the celebrities on Strictly Come Dancing.

She and her dance partner Gleb Savchenko came fifth.

Shortly after Strictly, Anita Rani visited the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan and in 2016 she spoke to the Radio Times about her concern that the west is in danger of turning away from tolerance, from the progressive, forward-thinking countries that we pride ourselves on being."

In July 2016, ITV announced that Anita Rani and James Martin would co-host This Morning on Fridays over the summer.

In September 2016, the BBC announced that Anita Rani would host the next Strictly Come Dancing tour, beginning in January 2017.

In August 2020, she hosted with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall War on Plastic: The Fight Goes On broadcast on BBC One, a year after they launched War on Plastic.

In January 2021, the BBC revealed that Anita Rani would join Emma Barnett as a presenter of Radio 4's Woman's Hour.