In Control

Misunderstood, positive, loud and happy, 29-year-old radio and TV presenter, ANITA GACHERI NDERU, has gone from being a teen sensation to walking the prestigious E! Africa’s red carpet. She talks about a meltdown and quitting a lucrative job.

Anita Nderu is happy. It is important to her that her fans know this. This comes after one of the toughest years for the 29-year-old Presenter. ‘I wasn’t happy last year. Yes, my social media looked great. Yes, I was making money. Yes, I was working my two dream jobs. But I was unhappy and no one knew it.’

‘I keep telling people that social media is pretentious. I try to be myself as much as I possibly can so that people don’t think I live the perfect life. It was hard for me to post Instagram videos last year. I just wasn’t happy!’ She tells me as she sips on her double Americano coffee with an extra shot of espresso.

Anita is petite with the fast talking candor of a veteran radio presenter. One has to quickly get used to the fast talking. She walks into Java, our scheduled meeting place dressed in tights and a large parka pulled low over her dark auburn wig. She tells me she was out till late the previous night and apart from her eyes, it is hard to tell. Fresh faced Anita looks young. More teenage like. I guess that is why 15 year olds follow her. ‘The demography of people who follow me are between 15-35 years old.’ She informs me later about her almost 350,000 Instagram followers.

Before Anita was a big shot, she was a simple country girl. Anita Gacheri Nderu was born to Josephine Hassan Nderu (a nurse) and Lewis Nderu (an engineer) a couple that eloped, married and raised her and her three siblings, Kinyanjui, Kariuki and Vanessa Nderu on a farm in Eldoret town.