Anne Lucinda Hartley Rice (born 4 October 1958),[1][2] known professionally as Anneka Rice, is a Welsh presenter and broadcaster.
Early life and education
Rice was born in Cowbridge, Glamorganshire, Wales (where her father was stationed as an officer in the RAF) to English parents and grew up in Surrey.[3][4][5] She was educated at three independent schools: Dunrobin School, Limpsfield, Surrey; St Michael's, Surrey; and Croydon High School, England. Rice adopted the name "Anneka" when she joined the British actors' union Equity, as her birth-name had already been registered with that organisation.[6]
Career
Television
Rice began her broadcasting career as a trainee for the BBC World Service.[7] At the age of 19 she moved to Hong Kong, where she presented the news on English language television station TVB Pearl.[8] She also did English dubbing for kung fu films.[9][10] Upon returning to the UK three years later, she worked as a secretary in the BBC Children's department.
In 1982 she landed her first major TV job as the jump-suited "skyrunner" of Channel 4's Treasure Hunt, which was hosted by former BBC newsman Kenneth Kendall. The show proved one of Channel 4's most popular programmes and was nominated for a BAFTA in 1986, in the category "Best Light Entertainment Programme". In the same year, Rice was given the "Rear of the Year" award.[11] Rice left Treasure Hunt when she became pregnant in 1988, being replaced by former tennis player Annabel Croft.[12]
Rice hosted the BBC's Children in Need appeal in 1987 and tested an early version of her next project, Challenge Anneka.[13] This had been devised by Rice herself and was launched in 1989 on BBC One. It ran for a further five years.
Later she also presented Holiday for BBC One. In 1995, Challenge Anneka was axed by the BBC.
As a result of her owning the rights to Challenge Anneka Rice returned to television in a co-producer role in September 2001 when she was approached by the ABC network in the United States to produce a new series based on the format, which was branded Challenge America and hosted by Erin Brockovich.
After finishing her art degree, in 2003 Rice returned to presenting on the Five show Dinner Doctors alongside relationship advisor Jenni Trent Hughes. Rice has written books on skiing and scuba-diving. In 2005 she endorsed a line of anti-ageing products. Returning to the limelight Rice had a lead role in The Vagina Monologues which played at Birmingham Hippodrome from 31 January to 4 February 2006.
On 9 June 2006, it was announced that Challenge Anneka would return, but this time on ITV. The first of three specials was broadcast on Boxing Day 2006.[14] A further episode was aired on 6 June 2007.
Also in June 2006 Rice co-hosted an ITV Sunday morning cookery show, Sunday Feast. She also took part in the ITV programme Extinct presented by Sir Trevor McDonald and Zoë Ball which saw Rice and seven other well known celebrities visit endangered animals in their natural habitat and plead their case so that viewers would pick up the phone and vote for their animal to receive a large sum of money to try to save them from extinction. Rice's chosen animal was the polar bear. Rice did not win as the money went to the Bengal tigers and their celebrity, Pauline Collins.
In September 2007, she appeared in the third series of Hell's Kitchen.
Rice appeared as a contestant on episode 5 of Celebrity Mastermind (broadcast 1 January 2010). She chose the life and career of Jean Rhys as her specialist subject and finished as runner-up to the winner, Tristan Gemmill.
In June 2012, Rice co-hosted a BBC1 programme Rolf Paints... Diamond Jubilee with Rolf Harris in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's jubilee. In August 2012, she was named co-presenter of The Flowerpot Gang on BBC 1 with Joe Swift (TV garden presenter) and Phil Tufnell.
In 2017, she appeared as a contestant on Richard Osman's House of Games and participated in Celebrity Hunted for Stand Up to Cancer, where she lasted 9 days and was captured in the third of four episodes broadcast on 24 October.
In 2019, Rice was announced as one of the celebrity dancers on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing.
Radio
Rice and Patrick Kielty filled in for Alan Carr and Melanie Sykes on BBC Radio 2 in January 2012 for two weeks. She was confirmed, in February 2012, as the successor to Zoe Ball on Radio 2's Weekend Breakfast show, on Saturday mornings from 6 am. She presented her final Saturday morning show on 25 February 2017. From 1 April 2017 Anneka took over the midnight–2 am slot on Saturdays, presenting a show called The Happening which showcases the best of Radio 2 from the previous week. Also, since 2017, she has presented the Christmas day edition of Junior Choice, following the death of long time host Ed Stewart.
Cricket World Cup
When Outspan agreed to sponsor the England Cricket Team ahead of their campaign in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, Rice was picked as a celebrity to launch the partnership, although she said she found cricket as boring as fishing.[15]
Personal life
Rice was married to theatre boss Nick Allott, with whom she has two sons. Allott and Rice separated in 1992. She subsequently had a relationship with TV executive Tom Gutteridge; they parted six months after their son was born in 1997.[16] In 1994 Rice presented Capital Woman, a weekly women's magazine programme for Carlton Television (ITV), which, like Challenge Anneka, was produced by Gutteridge's company Mentorn.
Rice decided to quit television to spend time with her three children, and spent five years studying painting at Chelsea College of Art.[17] In 2005 she began a relationship with writer Simon Bell.[18]
Television shows
CBTV Channel 14 (1982–85)
Treasure Hunt (1982–89)
Wish You Were Here...? (presenter)
Good Morning Britain (presenter)
Aspel & Company (guest – March 1986)[19]
The Grand Knockout Tournament
Challenge Anneka (presenter 1989–95, 2006/7)[20] nominated for two technical BAFTAs in 1991
KYTV (guest – June 1990)
2point4 Children (guest appearance – September 1992)
So Graham Norton (guest appearance – February 2001)
I Love 1980s (guest appearance – March 2001)
Ready, Steady, Cook (guest – June 2001)
A Question of TV (guest appearances – August 2001)
Remotely Funny (guest – July 2002)
RI:SE (breakfast show guest, February 2003)
Dinner Doctors (presenter)
Richard & Judy (June 2003)
Absolute Power (November 2003)
Hell's Kitchen (May 2004)
QI (aka Quite Interesting) (November 2004)
Have I Been Here Before? (May 2005)
Our Survey Says: the Ultimate Game Show Moments
The Big Call (guest – June 2005)
The Wright Stuff (guest panellist – September 2005)
Holiday (presenter)
Passport
Sporting Chance
Driving Force
Capital Woman
Combat
Come Dine with Me (Celebrity Special – July 2006)
Hell's Kitchen (Contestant – September 2007)
Heads or Tails on Five (Special Guest 2009)
Celebrity Mastermind, BBC1, contestant, 1 January 2010
Countdown, Channel 4, 'Dictionary Corner' guest, 3–7 October 2011
Countdown, Channel 4, 'Dictionary Corner' guest, 2–6 April 2012
Rolf Paints....Diamond Jubilee, BBC1, (Co-host), 5 June 2012
Flowerpot Gang, BBC1, (Co-host), August 2012
Richard Osman's House of Games, contestant, 4 – 8 September 2017
Celebrity Hunted – SU2C special; 10 October – 24 October 2017
Early life and education
Rice was born in Cowbridge, Glamorganshire, Wales (where her father was stationed as an officer in the RAF) to English parents and grew up in Surrey.[3][4][5] She was educated at three independent schools: Dunrobin School, Limpsfield, Surrey; St Michael's, Surrey; and Croydon High School, England. Rice adopted the name "Anneka" when she joined the British actors' union Equity, as her birth-name had already been registered with that organisation.[6]
Career
Television
Rice began her broadcasting career as a trainee for the BBC World Service.[7] At the age of 19 she moved to Hong Kong, where she presented the news on English language television station TVB Pearl.[8] She also did English dubbing for kung fu films.[9][10] Upon returning to the UK three years later, she worked as a secretary in the BBC Children's department.
In 1982 she landed her first major TV job as the jump-suited "skyrunner" of Channel 4's Treasure Hunt, which was hosted by former BBC newsman Kenneth Kendall. The show proved one of Channel 4's most popular programmes and was nominated for a BAFTA in 1986, in the category "Best Light Entertainment Programme". In the same year, Rice was given the "Rear of the Year" award.[11] Rice left Treasure Hunt when she became pregnant in 1988, being replaced by former tennis player Annabel Croft.[12]
Rice hosted the BBC's Children in Need appeal in 1987 and tested an early version of her next project, Challenge Anneka.[13] This had been devised by Rice herself and was launched in 1989 on BBC One. It ran for a further five years.
Later she also presented Holiday for BBC One. In 1995, Challenge Anneka was axed by the BBC.
As a result of her owning the rights to Challenge Anneka Rice returned to television in a co-producer role in September 2001 when she was approached by the ABC network in the United States to produce a new series based on the format, which was branded Challenge America and hosted by Erin Brockovich.
After finishing her art degree, in 2003 Rice returned to presenting on the Five show Dinner Doctors alongside relationship advisor Jenni Trent Hughes. Rice has written books on skiing and scuba-diving. In 2005 she endorsed a line of anti-ageing products. Returning to the limelight Rice had a lead role in The Vagina Monologues which played at Birmingham Hippodrome from 31 January to 4 February 2006.
On 9 June 2006, it was announced that Challenge Anneka would return, but this time on ITV. The first of three specials was broadcast on Boxing Day 2006.[14] A further episode was aired on 6 June 2007.
Also in June 2006 Rice co-hosted an ITV Sunday morning cookery show, Sunday Feast. She also took part in the ITV programme Extinct presented by Sir Trevor McDonald and Zoë Ball which saw Rice and seven other well known celebrities visit endangered animals in their natural habitat and plead their case so that viewers would pick up the phone and vote for their animal to receive a large sum of money to try to save them from extinction. Rice's chosen animal was the polar bear. Rice did not win as the money went to the Bengal tigers and their celebrity, Pauline Collins.
In September 2007, she appeared in the third series of Hell's Kitchen.
Rice appeared as a contestant on episode 5 of Celebrity Mastermind (broadcast 1 January 2010). She chose the life and career of Jean Rhys as her specialist subject and finished as runner-up to the winner, Tristan Gemmill.
In June 2012, Rice co-hosted a BBC1 programme Rolf Paints... Diamond Jubilee with Rolf Harris in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's jubilee. In August 2012, she was named co-presenter of The Flowerpot Gang on BBC 1 with Joe Swift (TV garden presenter) and Phil Tufnell.
In 2017, she appeared as a contestant on Richard Osman's House of Games and participated in Celebrity Hunted for Stand Up to Cancer, where she lasted 9 days and was captured in the third of four episodes broadcast on 24 October.
In 2019, Rice was announced as one of the celebrity dancers on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing.
Radio
Rice and Patrick Kielty filled in for Alan Carr and Melanie Sykes on BBC Radio 2 in January 2012 for two weeks. She was confirmed, in February 2012, as the successor to Zoe Ball on Radio 2's Weekend Breakfast show, on Saturday mornings from 6 am. She presented her final Saturday morning show on 25 February 2017. From 1 April 2017 Anneka took over the midnight–2 am slot on Saturdays, presenting a show called The Happening which showcases the best of Radio 2 from the previous week. Also, since 2017, she has presented the Christmas day edition of Junior Choice, following the death of long time host Ed Stewart.
Cricket World Cup
When Outspan agreed to sponsor the England Cricket Team ahead of their campaign in the 1999 Cricket World Cup, Rice was picked as a celebrity to launch the partnership, although she said she found cricket as boring as fishing.[15]
Personal life
Rice was married to theatre boss Nick Allott, with whom she has two sons. Allott and Rice separated in 1992. She subsequently had a relationship with TV executive Tom Gutteridge; they parted six months after their son was born in 1997.[16] In 1994 Rice presented Capital Woman, a weekly women's magazine programme for Carlton Television (ITV), which, like Challenge Anneka, was produced by Gutteridge's company Mentorn.
Rice decided to quit television to spend time with her three children, and spent five years studying painting at Chelsea College of Art.[17] In 2005 she began a relationship with writer Simon Bell.[18]
Television shows
CBTV Channel 14 (1982–85)
Treasure Hunt (1982–89)
Wish You Were Here...? (presenter)
Good Morning Britain (presenter)
Aspel & Company (guest – March 1986)[19]
The Grand Knockout Tournament
Challenge Anneka (presenter 1989–95, 2006/7)[20] nominated for two technical BAFTAs in 1991
KYTV (guest – June 1990)
2point4 Children (guest appearance – September 1992)
So Graham Norton (guest appearance – February 2001)
I Love 1980s (guest appearance – March 2001)
Ready, Steady, Cook (guest – June 2001)
A Question of TV (guest appearances – August 2001)
Remotely Funny (guest – July 2002)
RI:SE (breakfast show guest, February 2003)
Dinner Doctors (presenter)
Richard & Judy (June 2003)
Absolute Power (November 2003)
Hell's Kitchen (May 2004)
QI (aka Quite Interesting) (November 2004)
Have I Been Here Before? (May 2005)
Our Survey Says: the Ultimate Game Show Moments
The Big Call (guest – June 2005)
The Wright Stuff (guest panellist – September 2005)
Holiday (presenter)
Passport
Sporting Chance
Driving Force
Capital Woman
Combat
Come Dine with Me (Celebrity Special – July 2006)
Hell's Kitchen (Contestant – September 2007)
Heads or Tails on Five (Special Guest 2009)
Celebrity Mastermind, BBC1, contestant, 1 January 2010
Countdown, Channel 4, 'Dictionary Corner' guest, 3–7 October 2011
Countdown, Channel 4, 'Dictionary Corner' guest, 2–6 April 2012
Rolf Paints....Diamond Jubilee, BBC1, (Co-host), 5 June 2012
Flowerpot Gang, BBC1, (Co-host), August 2012
Richard Osman's House of Games, contestant, 4 – 8 September 2017
Celebrity Hunted – SU2C special; 10 October – 24 October 2017
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