'Women Need To Focus On Themselves, We Do So Much For Everybody Else!

Documentary presenter Anita Rani talks to us about the secret to a happy marriage, saying what she really thinks, and climbing Kilimanjaro...

- Robyn Morris; Nathalie Whittle

With her energy and sunny smile, Anita Rani epitomises summer magic at the w&h photo shoot.

The 41-year-old presenter and once Strictly Come Dancing semi-finalist has an infectious zest for life. She’s a confident and natural performer, so it’s no surprise when we sit down to chat that she says her life is about dreams.

“I want to be Beyoncé! I don’t think I’ve lost that nine-year-old in me who just wants to be on stage. It’s important to have dreams – it doesn’t matter how silly they are, they’re yours.” This year, Anita has already achieved one of her big dreams – climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania for Comic Relief, something she describes as an “amazing” experience.

“My life is spent at a certain level of nerves,” she explains. “Even doing this shoot is terrifying on some level.”

She’s travelled the world presenting shows like World’s Busiest Cities, but we’d never say she feels nervous. Chatting about future plans, Anita knows just what she wants! She lives in London with her husband, Bhupi.

I always thought I’d become a documentary director, but I started working at my local radio station when I was 14, so I guess presenting was always going to be what I ended up doing. I never sat still as a kid – as well as working at the radio station, I was going to drama classes. I’d also get my parents to drop me off to watch theatre productions on my own, which is pretty weird if you think about it now, but it felt normal at the time. I remember playing Mary in the Nativity at nursery school – I was probably the most similar to the actual Mary there. Maybe that’s what made me want to get into the spotlight!