She may have spent more time listening to the band The Stone Roses than being a member of the debating club or playing sports, but for this year’s Bradford Beacon, Anita Singh, the essay writing taught at BGS paved the way for a successful career in journalism.

With most of the country in lockdown as we type (January 2021), the arts industry is just one which has been deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. For Anita Singh, arts and entertainment editor at ‘The Telegraph’, gone, for now, are the art exhibitions, book launches and engaging theatre visits which were a regular feature of her working life. In their place, have been months working from her North London home amid bouts of home schooling for her children, aged five and seven. Fortunately, the British public’s obsession with box sets and increased screen time means the TV critic has had plenty to keep her busy.

‘I’m lucky in that I write about TV as well as covering the arts,’ she says. ‘TV viewing has really grown over the past few months and it’s not showing signs of slowing down. Also, my job remit includes covering the BBC, which has been at the centre of much political debate this year, so that has kept me busy. In terms of the arts, my coverage has focused on the people who work in that industry – highlighting how tough this year has been for them without jobs and trying to keep up pressure on the Government to help them.’

Like many Old Bradfordians, Anita may enjoy living in London, but she remains a true Northerner. She joined BGS in the Sixth Form after attending Bradford Girls’ Grammar. ‘I really loved my time at BGS.’ she recalls. ‘I studied English, Politics and History and the teachers really taught you to think for yourselves. One of my favourite teachers was Dr Sisson, my English teacher. I can remember he loved ‘Tom Jones’ by Henry Fielding and he would play bits of classical music to us and talk about trains because he loved trains. He was eccentric, and definitely didn’t stick to the syllabus, but he taught us so much. He used to say, ‘you have to have flair in all that you do!’

‘I also remember our history teacher, Dr Devlin, who was completely the opposite. He was terrifying, and we would stay up late doing our homework because the thought of not handing it in to him made you feel sick. I don’t think I ever got more than 16 out of 25 for an essay. But I had a lot of respect for him and the way I write now for ‘The Telegraph’ owes a lot to the way he taught me to write.’

Unlike some of her peers, Anita wasn’t an avid fan of BGS’s many extracurricular clubs.

‘I would love to be able to say I was one of those people who was in the debating club or doing lots of sports … or was a prefect, but I really wasn’t,’ she says, laughing. ‘It was the 90s, so I was into The Stone Roses and walked around in DMs.’

After Bradford, Anita moved North to study English at Newcastle University before heading straight to London. She had a brief job in advertising (‘I realised it was awful, and we parted by mutual agreement’) followed by a couple of years temping in a hospital.

‘I was on reception in a unit for older people and it turned out to be a really good grounding for interviewing people when I became a journalist,’ she says. ‘I’d always harboured an ambition to be a journalist – from a young age I loved magazines and newspapers. It just took me a while to get there.’

Anita took a course in journalism at the London College of Printing (now the London College of Communication) and cut her teeth working for a news agency in London. One minute she would be covering court cases at the Old Bailey, the next door-stepping the Hollywood actor Hugh Grant for a story for ‘The Sun’. She later joined the national news agency, the Press Association, and worked with them for five years in roles ranging from being on the news desk to showbiz correspondent.

After five years, Anita joined ‘The Telegraph’ as its entertainment editor, where she works today. She’s also written a book, ‘The Story of the Great British Bake Off’, a behind-the-scenes-look at the popular TV show, which she says was fun to write.

One of her favourite interviewees, she says, was fellow OB and artist David Hockney (1952). ‘Everyone was talking to him about art, but I was like “hey we went to the same school!”’ she says.

It’s clear, like Mr Hockney, that she’s a proud Northerner. (Her Twitter biog reads: ‘Daily Telegraph’ arts and entertainment editor. TV critic. Bradfordian …) Pre-COVID, Anita would regularly return to Yorkshire to visit her parents in Allerton with journalist husband Martin, the last time being when she chaired a talk at the Bradford Literature Festival.

‘We drove past BGS only a few months ago and he said: “It’s just like Hogwarts!”,’ she recalls.

She’s delighted with being named a Bradford Beacon and jokes that she’s waited 25 years for the honour.

‘Seriously,’ she adds. ‘I was totally thrilled to hear about it. My mum still sends me ‘The Old Bradfordian’ magazine. She’ll want to get a few copies of this one!’

Could you be our next Bradford Beacon?

We want to share stories of Old Bradfordians like Anita Singh, whose achievements in their chosen field inspire others to succeed. This is your chance to celebrate OBs who embody the BGS values of excellence, service, and that quintessentially northern characteristic, ‘grit’. As well as appearing on the website, the Bradford Beacon features in the annual Old Bradfordian magazine.

To make a nomination, please email Lindsey Davis, Development Director at ldavis@bradfordgrammar.com