Anita Anand

Television presenter

Popular As Anita Anand (journalist)

Birthday April 28, 1972

Birth Sign Taurus

Birthplace London, England

Age 51 years old

Nationality United Kingdom

#25816 Most Popular

1972

Anita Anand (born 28 April 1972) is a British radio and television presenter, journalist, and author.

Anand was born in 1972 in London, England, to Punjabi parents who migrated to India shortly after the partition of India and then, later, to the UK.

Her family, prior to the partition, originated from a village near the Northwest Frontier Province and Afghanistan.

Anand was privately educated at Bancroft's School in Woodford Green in Redbridge, east London.

1990

Anand then entered King's College, London, in 1990, graduating with a BA in English in 1993.

After training as a journalist, Anand became European Head of News and Current Affairs for Zee TV, and one of the youngest TV news editors in Britain at the age of 25.

1997

She presented the talk show The Big Debate and was political correspondent for Zee TV presenting the Raj Britannia series – 31 documentaries chronicling the political aspirations of the Asian community in the most marginal constituencies in 1997.

2004

Anand has also written articles for India Today and The Asian Age newspaper, and used to write a regular column in The Guardian ("Anita Anand's Diary", 2004–2005 ).

2005

On 18 November 2005, Anand won the Nazia Hassan Award for 2005 in the category of Upcoming Television Broadcasters.

2007

Until October 2007, Anand presented in the 10:00 pm till 1:00 am slot on Monday to Thursdays on BBC Radio 5 Live.

She went on to co-present the station's weekday Drive (4:00–7:00 pm) slot with Peter Allen, having succeeded Jane Garvey in 2007.

Aasmah Mir replaced her when she left for maternity leave.

Anand has presented the BBC Radio 4 show Midweek, and on television she has been a presenter on the Heaven and Earth Show.

Anand married science writer Simon Singh in 2007.

The couple have two sons and live in Richmond, London.

Anand is a patron of the Richmond Society and of the Museum of Richmond.

2008

She has co-presented the Daily Politics on BBC Two with Andrew Neil from September 2008, with a break for maternity leave from January to September 2010.

2011

In July 2011 Anand left the Daily Politics to present a new show called Double Take on Radio 5 Live on Sunday mornings.

2012

In June 2012, Anand took over from Jonathan Dimbleby as the presenter of Radio 4's Any Answers? Saturday current affairs phone-in programme between 2:00 and 2:45 pm.

In 2022, Anand collaborated with historian William Dalrymple to create the podcast Empire, which examines the British East India Company and British involvement and influence on India.

The pair had previously worked together on the book Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond.

2020

Her book The Patient Assassin won the 2020 Hessell-Tiltman Prize.