Countryfile presenter Anita Rani opened up about her divorce from her former husband Bhupi as she addressed their separation. It comes as the BBC star, 46, took the plunge and embarked on her first solo trip to The Dolomites.
The host said she had committed a “cardinal sin” after getting a divorce and while being single in her mid-forties it forced her to re-evaluate her life.
Writing in a column for The Times, she explained: “I knew that my life was changing; the great unravel. And I was, for a time, sad. So in spring 2023, I took myself on a solo holiday, for perspective. A privilege, I know.”
But it was in those quiet moments she admittedly began to “unravel” while being lost in her thoughts. The BBC star started to question her life after being “closed to everything”.
“Things began to change,” Anita explained. “Maybe it was lockdown. Maybe it was writing a memoir. I realised I’m flawed, deeply wounded, confused and unsatisfied.”
She went on: “Panic set in. Who the hell am I? How have I been living my life?
“I woke up feeling I had lived a half-life, thinking about a lot of people but somehow leaving myself out of the equation. I’ve been closed to my own self and therefore closed to everything.”
Anita came to the realisation that she is not afraid of being alone and explained she is now ready to live a full life.
She has previously shared her joy at being single. “I feel like I’ve stepped into a place that I never, ever expected myself to be in.”
Anita told Good Housekeeping. “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.”
Last year Anita revealed that her marriage to ex-husband Bhupi, whom she wed in 2009 after dating for a year, ended amicably as their demanding careers led them to grow apart. She has since returned to a flat she purchased 20 years ago.