Anita Rani accused of faking plans to buy £850k home after marriage split as she appears on Escape to the Country

COUNTRYFILE star Anita Rani has come under fire from fans for ‘faking’ her interest in buying a new home.

The 47-year-old appeared on Celebrity Escape to the Country in a bid to find a new place to live away from Hackney following her marriage split.

Anita explained: “All of a sudden I have this urge to be somewhere different and do somewhere different.”

She was seen visiting a number of impressive properties in Hastings and Rye before seeming to find her dream home in Dungeness.

Anita was blown away by the converted Scout Hut, which featured three bedrooms and appeared very keen to buy it.

But when she was told about the £850k price tag, Anita’s interest waned somewhat and she admitted she wasn’t sure she was ready to spend that much.

Those watching at home weren’t impressed with her u-turn and accused her of putting it on for the cameras.

One person wrote:  “There’s no way Anita Rani is interested in any of these homes shown. It’s all just for the programme.  The fake enthusiasm is nauseating.”

A second imitated her, commenting: “Great...great....great.....let's buy it....

"Well what do you think?"...Mmm....maybe none of them???....or am I mistaken....”

“I’ve got a budget of £875k. House of her dreams is £875k. I don’t know if I can afford it,” remarked a third.

While a fourth added:  “Caught a bit of the celeb #escapetothecountry just now; all guests are doing it for the appearance fee. If they wanted to splash a million on a house they’d do it away from the telly cameras.”

Anita was married to tech entrepreneur Bhupi for 14 years after the couple met at a warehouse party in London and bonded over their shared love of music.

The couple tied the knot six months later in a three-day Indian wedding in 2009 which Anita had previously described as 'bonkers'.

The Strictly star said: "We had 450 of our nearest and dearest in Bradford, which is relatively small for a Punjabi wedding."

She had previously called being single 'uncharted territory' when the couple first split.

With their busy work schedules said to be a contributing factor, she moved into her former London flat purchased 20 years prior.

At the time she was juggling a jam-packed work schedule, which included the launch of her debut novel, Baby Does A Runner, about a British Asian woman in search of her identity, in July 2023.

When the news broke she told The Sun at the time: "It’s liberating that people know that I’m single now."

"Not everything works out. Things come to their natural conclusion. That is absolutely fine."