Nikki Bedi

Nikki Bedi is a Television and Radio Presenter, born Nikki Moolgaoker in Aylesbury on 9 September 1966 to an Indian father of Marathi origin and an English mother. She is proud of both her Indian and English roots and refers to herself as Indo-Anglian, although Indo-Anglian is a term used to denote English literature by Indian authors. Both a stage and television actress, she began her career in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) working with some of India's finest directors; spotted by the UK's Channel 4, Nikki hosted Bombay Chat, an on-location celebrity talk show and Star TV gave her a primetime slot for Nikki Tonight which quickly proved to be Asia's most widely viewed and controversial talk show, although it was subsequently cancelled by Star TV after a guest made a derogatory remark about Mahatma Gandhi. After the show ended Bedi lived and worked for a time in Los Angeles. Returning to the UK in 2000, she was the face of Universal's film channel The Studio for over two years and had her own live film show on NOW. In 2003, while continuing her television work, Nikki began developing a career in radio, appearing on LBC and BBC Radio 4. On the BBC Asian Network, she became a regular stand-in presenter, most notably for the Sonia Deol show and in 2004 became the presenter of a new weekend morning programme called Hot Breakfast before taking over as presenter of the weekday afternoon show, Drive in 2005. In May 2006 as part of wide-ranging schedule changes put in place, she was given her own show called Nikki Bedi on the BBC Asian Network and continues to present this programme. The show, which airs from 12:30 to 16:00 every weekday, features reports on music, films and the arts, and includes interviews with prominent figures in the British and international arts world. Bedi has not abandoned television and has recently appeared as a presenter on BBC2's Desi DNA.