Rita is half-Pakistani and half-Italian and was born and raised in London. Aged 15, she was on the front cover of Touch magazine with R&B artist Jay Sean. At 18, she travelled independently to parts of Africa and Asia, which was self-funded.
Rita then completed a number of work experience placements working alongside the producers for a range of programmes on Talksport, including Jeremy Kyle, and current affairs programmes.
Rita did volunteer projects throughout her travels: working with conservation of animals in Africa; building a medical centre and a kitchen for an orphanage in Thailand, and teaching English in the slums in India. At 19, she was on Mongolian TV.
Rita has written, produced, presented and edited programmes for C1 Television. She then went on to study Broadcast Journalism on a BJTC-accredited course at Staffordshire University where she graduated with a 1st. At university, she co-presented a radio show for three years, produced and presented TV and radio packages and published material on the news website StaffsLive.
At BBC World Service Radio, Rita secured a live interview with the Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman for a breaking news story, when the British Council was attacked in Kabul. Rita has also completed work experience for Garden Productions, working alongside the director of the popular documentary, ’24 hours in A&E’, Antony Philipson, and Meghan Just-Truelove, the producer of Channel 4 documentary, ‘ The Audience.’
