Anita Rani ‘loves’ being a ‘single, Asian woman with no children’ – eight months after splitting from her husband of 14 years.
Speaking candidly about her home life as a newly-single woman in the June edition of Good Housekeeping magazine, the Countryfile host, 46, said she feels like she has a ‘blank slate’ to start on again in life.
The broadcaster and her husband, tech company owner partner Bhupi Rehal, split in September 2023 after their busy schedules kept them apart after first meeting at a rave in east London and marrying in a traditional Sikh ceremony back in 2009.
Anita revealed she has moved back in to a flat she bought 30 years ago and has decided to transform it into her dream home following her marital split.
She explained: ‘I feel like I’ve stepped into a place that I never, ever expected myself to be in. I’m in uncharted territory – I’m a single, Asian woman with no children, and do you know what? I love it!
‘I’ve sort of got a blank slate in front of me, and that feels really good. I bought a flat about 20 years ago, which I kept for all these years, and I’ve moved back into it.
‘When I first became single, a friend said, “You could make your little apartment like a Parisienne dream house” – and that’s exactly what I’ve done.
‘I have lovely cream drapes and white floorboards. My bedroom is dusky pink and I’ve turned my spare room into a dressing room.
‘Just talking about it makes me happy! It’s my little sanctuary and it feels really important to have that.’
Anita also told how she has found a place of confidence thanks to ‘inner strength and power’, while redefining what it means to be ‘sexy’.
She told Good Housekeeping: ‘I think confidence and beauty go hand in hand, and I admire women who have an inner strength and power.
‘I met this 82-year-old woman recently, who left her husband at 75, and she’s one of the most strikingly beautiful women I’ve ever met.
‘She walks into a room and she has this power about her, and that’s very sexy. That’s who I want to be. Someone who has bigger things to think about than the size of my nose!’
The TV presenter also touched upon covering the theme of generational trauma in her novel Baby Does A Runner, which is set for release next month.
Anita explained: ‘I don’t think I am at a place of peace with it. I don’t want to sound like an angry, raging feminist, but I won’t deny that I’m angry. I’m a very happy, optimistic person fuelled by rage!
‘I grew up in a Punjabi family where men and women were treated very differently and I could see the inequality everywhere around me.
‘But when you have something to fight against, it really empowers you. It’s like a fire inside that drives you.’
In late 2023, Anita told how she’s stopped ‘people pleasing’ after being being put ‘in a box’ for much of her life.
Speaking to Yahoo News, Anita – born in Bradford to Indian parents – told of the pressure she felt to settle down after it was instilled that marriage and children equals success, remarking that the notion is ‘drip fed to you’.
She said: ‘How many of us are making choices based on what we actually want to do? and how many of us are doing it because it’s what’s expected of us? And those are the things that I’m personally grappling with.’
The presenter told how she began ‘second guessing’ what people wanted after watching women in her life facilitate everyone before themselves.
Anita went on to say that her 40s were very ‘transitional’ and she started to not ‘give a f*** as much’ as she felt more ’empowered’ and ‘confident’ within herself.
She shared: ‘I think at some point, you wake up and realise it’s time to make myself happy, because I think women do look after everybody, whether that’s because that’s what society expects, or whether it’s your parents or your husband or your children.
‘You realise that it’s a bit of a waste of time trying to please other people. And once you find who you are, and you walk into a room authentically, valuing who you are – that’s a sensational feeling.’
The TV host previously told how she and Bhupi had a good marriage, saying: ‘He’s great and we have a great life. It’s like any marriage: you have to work at it.’
In the past, Anita opened up about suffering a devastating miscarriage in 2018, telling The Times: ‘I’m much better at self-care and I ask myself more questions about how I want to live my life.
‘I’m also more willing to be vulnerable, like talking about the miscarriage I had in 2018.
‘Vulnerability used to scare the s*** out of me, but it has been liberating to share my personal story and see the response.’
Read the full interview in Good Housekeeping’s June issue, on sale now
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
