What was Anneka Rice famous for?

Anne Lucinda Hartley Rice, known professionally as Anneka Rice, is a television presenter, broadcaster, journalist and painter.

Born in Cowbridge, Glamorgan, Wales, Rice was educated at three independent schools: Dunrobin School and St Michael’s – both at Limpsfield, Surrey – and Croydon High School.

Rice’s broadcasting career began as a trainee for the BBC World Service, working on The World Today and Twenty-Four Hours.

Rice then moved to BBC children’s TV, where she worked for Monica Sims and as a production assistant on Lucky Numbers.

At 19, Rice moved to Hong Kong, where she worked as a news sub-editor for TVB Pearl, the English-language TV station.

Rice later became the regular evening news-reader and also produced Wheelbase, a weekly drive-time radio show, for RTHK and worked as an account executive for PR company Corporate Communications.

Rice published a book called A Children’s Guide to Hong Kong and also dubbed kung fu films into English for Run Run Shaw late into the night and was a fittings model for Gloria Vanderbilt jeans during her lunch hours.

In 1982, Rice returned to the UK and worked as a reporter on CBTV for Thames Television.

Rice lander her first-high profile job, as the jump-suited “skyrunner” of Channel 4’s Treasure Hunt, co-hosted by former BBC newsman Kenneth Kendall.

Till date, the show remains one of Channel 4’s highest-rated programmes ever, regularly getting over 7 million viewers, and was also nominated for a BAFTA in 1986.

In 1995, Rice took a sabbatical to bring up her young family and during that period, she enrolled at Chelsea College of Art for two years and has painted ever since.

In the early 2000s, Rice worked as a regular on The Wright Stuff and as host for Channel 5 series Dinner Doctors.

In 2006, Rice co-hosted ITV Sunday-morning cookery show Sunday Feast and also took part in the ITV programme Extinct.

In September 2007, Rice appeared on Hell’s Kitchen and was also a contestant on Celebrity Mastermind (broadcast 1 January 2010).

In June 2012, Rice co-hosted BBC1 programme Rolf Paints… Diamond Jubilee with Rolf Harris in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s jubilee.

In August 2012, Rice was named co-presenter of The Flowerpot Gang on BBC 1 with Joe Swift (TV garden presenter) and Phil Tufnell.

Rice was a presenter on Secrets of the National Trust for Channel 5 in 2016.

In 2017, Rice appeared as a contestant on Richard Osman’s House of Games and participated in Channel 4’s Celebrity Hunted for Stand Up to Cancer.

In 2019, Rice took part in Celebrity Antiques Road Trip for BBC2 with friend Liz Carr.

In, Rice took part in Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back and ran with her Radio 2 colleagues for BBC 1’s Sport Relief.