People think it’s OK to imitate an Indian accent in front of me

ANITA BATTLES RACIST ABUSE

ANITA Rani says people think it is acceptable to mock an Indian accent to her face.

The Countryfile presenter revealed that prejudice has forced her to work twice as hard to succeed as others.

Anita, 42, said she constantly sees “ridiculous” examples of racism in her daily life “such as people thinking it’s OK to imitate an Indian accent in front of me”.

She added: “Things have happened at work too. Ask any ethnic, black or Asian person who works in any big industry – we just know we have to work a bit harder.

“I’ve had to prove myself a lot more than others and it’s frustrating, but it’s not just about race. All women feel it, don’t they? We just have to keep ploughing away.”

Hard

The Strictly star explained that after battling a continuous stream of sexism and racism she was thrilled to have broken through to the top of the telly industry. She told Good Housekeeping magazine: “It feels great to have worked so hard and achieved something like that; smashing glass ceilings is a pretty great feeling.”

But she added that things have not always been easy in her work and personal life. Anita admitted: “It’s important to me to speak out about the struggles I’ve had, too. “The perception of Asian women has always been very binary – people think we’re quite square and clever and that we don’t have sex until we’re married (of course, mother, I didn’t have sex until I got married!). “But that’s just not the case. I’ve hated being put into boxes my whole life.”

● Good Housekeeping on sale this week. is