Nikita Kanda was born on 29 July 1995 in
Birmingham,
West Midlands. She is of Indian descent. She studied film and screen media at university, and after graduating, worked on
Zee TV and presented the drivetime show on
Asian Star 101.6FM. She took part in
West End theatre productions including
The Wiz,
Bugsy Malone,
Annie and
Pocahontas. In March 2021, Kanda joined the
BBC Asian Network, serving primarily as a regular relief presenter and hosted on Saturday afternoons. In July 2022, she began temporarily presenting the
Asian Network Breakfast Show, and was subsequently appointed as the permanent host in January 2023. For her work on the station, she was nominated for Presenter of the Year at the Asian Media Awards. Kanda is also a frequent reporter on
The One Show, and has fronted a range of topics including the rise of cashless businesses and government support for female sport. Kanda described her participation as a "dream come true" and said she was "still pinching [herself]", adding that she "[didn't] think it [would] properly sink in until [she stepped] onto the dancefloor". She was the second celebrity to be eliminated. ==References==