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

Countryfile presenter Anita Rani talks to Robyn Morris about the secret to a happy marriage, saying what she really thinks and climbing Kilimanjaro…

- Anita Rani

With her sunny smile and boundless energy, Anita Rani epitomises summer magic during our photo shoot.

The 41-year-old presenter’s zest for life is infectious and she has the whole w&h team swooning over her while she twirls and jumps for the camera (which also loves her) in a floaty dress.

She is clearly a confident and natural performer, so it comes as no surprise when we sit down to chat with Anita that she reveals her life is all 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 that stage. It’s really important to have dreams, it doesn’t matter how silly they are, they’re yours.”

This year, Anita has already achieved one big dream of hers – 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 photo shoot is on some level terrifying.”

But we’d never know she feels nervous. As Anita chats to us about plans for her next big adventure, it’s clear to see this is a woman who knows exactly what she wants!

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, I was probably the most similar to actual Mary there. Maybe that’s what made me want to get into the spotlight!