Anita Rani has defended her bombshell appearance on the Baftas red carpet in a glitzy ‘naked’ dress after it sparked criticism from a fellow Woman’s Hour presenter.
The 46-year-old said there was something about ‘an Asian woman wearing a revealing dress that has blown people’s minds’.
Rani donned the see-through gown embellished with pearls and a nude bodysuit at the Baftas ceremony in London last month as a way to ’embody confidence’.
Her look, however, sparked criticism from the former doyenne of Women’s Hour, Dame Jeni Murray, who said she was ‘horrified’ Rani was wearing ‘not much more than her underwear’.
Writing for the Daily Mail, Dame Jeni said: ‘Women who have achieved the standing Anita now rightly enjoys should forget about dressing like porn stars or wearing risque outfits to attract the attention of men. It isn’t attractive.’
But speaking to the Telegraph, Rani hit back. She said: ‘I think: is it something about the fact that it’s my body in that dress?
‘That it’s an Indian woman who has done something totally unexpected?
‘I’ve done something which is perfectly normal for a woman to do, but there’s something about an Asian woman doing it that has slightly blown people’s minds? I don’t know.’
The radio host also said she believes the world has moved on and that women can have ‘both a brain and wear sexy clothes’.
She previously explained that she adopted the stylish gown both as a way of showing that women of any age or size can ’embody confidence’.
She also said it was a way to honour her late Aunt who passed away during lockdown.
Rani said: ‘I’ve had a hard few years, my life has changed. I lost an auntie, during lockdown and I’ve not spoken about that. It was really hard, we were very close and she wasn’t even 60.
‘And she was an amazing woman who did everything for everybody else, as a lot of the women around me have done.
‘And then you realise well maybe she should have lived for herself a bit more. And here I am with this amazing opportunity and privileged life which I’ve worked very hard for.
‘So what do you do? Do you continue or do you make a choice like none of the women in my family have done.
‘And well I thought, I sort of owe it to a lot of women who come before me to just… wear that dress!
‘I think we can all take time for ourselves a little bit and try and heal whatever is going on with ourselves. That’s where I am at in my life.
‘I’m very active, I love to run. We all have that inner sabotage which is a waste of time. My self critic, no one can be harsher on me than my inner self critic but you have to put that voice to put that to bed.’
Rani has recently stepped up to host more Women’s Hour shows alongside Nuala McGovern, following Emma Barnett’s departure.
The show which runs for an hour between 10am and 11am on Radio 4, highlights women’s issues and stories, as well as more lighthearted content.
Rani was previously best known for her appearances on Countryfile and Strictly Come Dancing.
The 46-year-old has been extremely open about how she wants to present womanhood as ’empowering’.
After splitting from her husband last September, she has represented how being single, child-free and fabulous in your 40s can look like.
The presenter and her husband, tech company owner partner Bhupi Rehal, broke up 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.
Following the marriage split, Anita spoke about how she is embracing the ‘uncharted territory’, saying that she feels more joyful than ever.
Anita previously told Good Housekeeping magazine that she ‘loves’ being a ‘single, Asian woman with no children’ after separating from her husband of 14 years.
Speaking candidly, she said she feels like she has a ‘blank slate’ to start on again in life.
Anita revealed she has moved back in to a flat she bought years ago and has decided to transform it into her dream home following her marital split.
‘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,’ she gushed, revealing she has transformed it into a ‘Parisienne dream house’.
The star added how she has found a place of confidence thanks to ‘inner strength and power’, while redefining what it means to be ‘sexy’.