Countryfile’s Anita Rani, who went public with new beau Alex Lavery during London Fashion Week last month, says her life has changed “dramatically” since the end of her 14-year marriage last year.
Speaking on Loose Women, Anita said that she was focusing more on her own needs now after having been a “people-pleaser” for so long.
“As you get older, you become more empowered,” she said. “My life has changed dramatically, so I’ve got a choice about what I do next and I’d quite like to pay attention to growing myself as a woman and doing things that I’ve never done before.”
One of the new things that she’s doing is taking part in Celebrity Race Across The World with her dad Bal.
Season three of Celebrity Race Across the World is set to air at 8pm on Thursday, November 6, on BBC One – immediately before the finale of The Celebrity Traitors.
Anita said that when she first split with her husband, being single in her forties was “uncharted territory” and she was looking forward to enjoying her independence.
“I think I’m definitely a people-pleaser,” she says. “I think I’ve been brought up to be one. I think I’ve been conditioned to make sure that – while I can be independent and be free-spirited – [I must] make sure nobody’s upset.”
Anita, 47, told The Sunday Times: “Becoming single in my mid-forties has made me re-evaluate everything. It has made me see how much I have been conditioned to be a dutiful woman, rather than a free woman.”
“I was raised to be a high achiever,” she added, “to make my parents and family proud, but I was also raised never to bring shame. This is where it gets kind of problematic, especially if you are born with a vagina. So I guess I’ve lived in extreme conflict.”
The Bradford-born author says that the way Asian women, in particular, tend to be perceived as “quite square and clever,” but the truth is more complex.
“I’ve hated being put into boxes my whole life,” she said.
Speaking to Good Housekeeping shortly after the split, Anita revealed that she had moved back into a flat she bought 30 years ago and had decided to transform it into her perfect home: “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!”
Anita said she was enjoying her new life and looking forward to “chapter two.”
