Grounded, family-orientated and incredibly likeable, Anita Rani quickly became a fan favourite on Celebrity Race Across the World, finishing in third place. Her relationship with her father, Bal, is what most parents dream of: full of love, joy, and mutually respectful.
To the viewer, Bradford-born Rani, 48, appears to be completely at peace with who she is, boasting a remarkably positive outlook on life that’s surprising, given the challenges life has thrown her way.
She’s experienced miscarriage, divorce and “really tough times” growing up, but has emerged determined to be “ridiculous” – a self-proclaimed “daft grown-up”.
In many ways, it’s a battle she’s been fighting her whole life, she tells me during our conversation for Yahoo UK’s Unapologetically series. When she was born, Rani’s grandmother said, “We don’t celebrate girls” – an attitude she says she’s been fighting ever since.
“When I separated [from my husband of 14 years in 2023], I remember saying to my brother, I’ve kind of gone off script,” she says. “I don’t have children. This is not what the Indian daughter is meant to do. Fiercely independent, no children, no husband, like what are you supposed to do with me?”
Although she says on Celebrity Race that she perhaps “sacrificed” having children, she has no regrets and feels “absolutely fine” about it. Rani reflects on the pressure women face in society, and how now she’s older, she’s more comfortable with who she is as a person and lives life on her own terms.
Rani’s made an impressive mark on the showbiz world, with her work on Countryfile, The One Show and Woman’s Hour. But we sense the best is yet to come for her.
You’re 48 now. How are you feeling about getting older?
I feel great. I never wanted to be older when I was a kid. I was never one of those girls who wore loads of makeup and turned my skirt up. I never wanted to portray as an older woman.
But now that I’m here, I’m really enjoying being like a daft grown-up – like grown-up but also childlike. So the 40s are just brilliant. I’ve earned my place. I know who I am.
I’m working hard and I’m really enjoying the fruits of my labour and it just feels like it’s getting better and better. I just feel more comfortable with who I am and more confident in how I choose to live my life.
Has there been a defining moment in your life so far?
It’s sort of been happening for the last 10 years. I made a Who Do You Think You Are? 10 years ago, and it told me the history of my family, which was very dark.
Then I wrote my memoir and started presenting Woman’s Hour. Then my miscarriage happened [in 2018] and my marriage came to an end…
I want to live life according to my own rules. Society puts so much pressure on women, and it’s really liberating to come out the other side.
When I separated from my husband, I remember saying to my brother, “I’ve kind of gone off script. I don’t have children. This is not what the Indian daughter is meant to do. Fiercely independent, no children, no husband, what are you supposed to do with me?”
And it feels great because I’m like, “Ahh, no one knows what to do with me, so I’m just going to do whatever I want”.
Anita Rani at the Sky Women In Film And Television Awards last year. (Getty Images)
You’ve spoken publicly about personal issues, including your miscarriage. Why do you think it’s important to be open?
There aren’t many women who look like me who have a public platform. And I feel that when somebody who looks like they’ve got a relative space of privilege shares something that they’ve been through, it can have such a huge impact.
I wrote my memoir, The Right Sort of Girl [published in 2021], which tells my whole life story up until now. The reaction to that was huge. When other women in the public eye talk about things, it gives other people permission to talk about it, doesn’t it?
I’ve never been somebody who’s particularly dreamt of children, or the handsome prince, for that matter, or any of it. Even when I was little, I felt I wanted to be an independent woman, to live my own life. And I do think life has a wonderful way of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.
A lot of pressure can be put on by society rather than by women themselves. So it’s kind of unpicking what is your own pressure and what is being put on you.
Rani’s impressive career has included highlights such as appearing on Strictly Come Dancing in 2015 and taking part in the show’s live tour the following year. (Getty Images)
You mention in episode five of Celebrity Race that perhaps you’ve sacrificed having children. How do you feel about that now?
Absolutely fine, because I don’t believe that you should live in regrets. I believe that whatever life’s journey is for you, is your journey. So, I’m actually in a really, really good place. I’m not somebody who dwells on the past, put it that way.
I definitely am not somebody who sits thinking about what could have been. I just think about where I am now. I’m living in such a happy place in my life.
Anita Rani and her father, Bal, are contestants in the current series of Celebrity Race Across The World. (BBC/Studio Lambert)
You’re now in a new relationship. How’s that going?
He’s amazing. I’m in a really beautiful relationship with a gorgeous human being. It’s magic. New relationships are always really nice.
But also when you meet somebody when you’re a bit older, and you’ve lived, you kind of want to unpick the bits of you that you didn’t particularly like, and try and offer a new, better version of you for the new relationship.
So that’s quite interesting. It’s like, oooh, how can things be done differently? And, also, you realise that life is really short, and I just want to have a nice time and a good time. So, we’re having lots of good times together, which is lovely.
Before you met your new partner, how did you find being single?
Great, I really like my own company. I think women need to feel that they can be independent and being on your own is great. I think it’s really important. I don’t know why we feel we have to be defined by our relationships.
It’s just such a strange concept, isn’t it? That we even have to talk in terms of, “Oh, you’re single”. Or, “Oh you’re married”. Why not just, “I’m going through life and I have been married and I have been single and now I’m in a beautiful relationship”. All of it is good.
I feel so much is done to get into our heads, to make us feel insecure, to tell us that we’re not good enough. To make us look in the mirror and not like what we see, to look at our bodies and want to hide them.
All of it is mad, and all of it is distracting because, actually, women are incredible. We’re powerful and the older you get, there’s so much more wisdom that comes with that. You don’t care anymore and you’re more daft.
I want to get more ridiculous as I get older. There’s a bit on Celebrity Race where my dad explains how, when I was born, my grandma said, ‘We don’t celebrate girls.’
So I think on some very cellular level, I’ve been fighting that ever since I was born.
Rani, photographed with a teen who took part in Countryfile Ramble for BBC Children in Need, joined the Countryfile team in 2014. (BBC)
Talking of your dad – 69-year old Balvinder Singh Nazran – you seem to have a great relationship. How was it filming the series with him?
It’s really amazing because basically everywhere I go now, people just want to ask me about my dad. We’ve always been like mates, ever since I was little.
[Spending six weeks together], that was lovely – intense as well. We’ve always been really close. We’ve got a similar sense of humour. We can have good chats about things and even when I was little, I’ve always liked to help Dad [with] stuff.
Celebrity Race Across The World was Rani and her father’s first holiday together since Rani’s childhood. (BBC/Studio Lambert)
On the show, it seems like you’re always laughing together, but your family’s experienced some real challenges in life…
I think joy is really important. Times are dark, and people have real ups and downs in their lives. But I think, and the audience has seen, that we’ve had quite difficult times. Really tough times [Bal discusses going bankrupt and selling “everything” in episode two of Celebrity Race] growing up.
I think you’ve got to have a sense of humour. Otherwise, I guess it’s a choice, isn’t it? Do you want to be consumed by it? Or do you want to actually live life to the fullest? We definitely want to do the latter.
You come across as incredibly self-assured and inspiring on Celebrity Race Across the World. Where does your confidence come from?
My mum and dad are both really positive people; it’s a trait that comes from them. My dad is like Mr Chatty… Mr Charisma. He always has been. He always holds court and tells jokes. When we were little, he was the dad who could do magic.
I’ve always been quite self-assured, even when I was little, but it really delights me that women are seeing me as a positive role model. That makes me feel good.
Has the series changed the way you travel or approach life now?
We got back and booked holidays straight away. I’m already planning next year. Also, it makes you think about life in a different way, because there are so many ups and downs, and a lot of it is so out of your control… Just let things go a bit more…
It’s one of those things that gets said all the time, but to practice it is another thing entirely. People are so focused on the goal that you sort of miss the whole point of it, which is ultimately the journey. That’s a metaphor for life, isn’t it?
You spend your life worrying about things, and then one day, it’s all over. So I think I’ve definitely come back wanting to enjoy the present a lot more.
Celebrity Race Across the World is available to watch on BBC One and stream on BBC iPlayer.
This has been edited for length and clarity.
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Anita Rani and father, Bal, pictured during filming of Celebrity Race Across the World 2025. (BBC/Studio Lambert)