Arit Anderson is a recognisable face on our screens thanks to her role as a presenter and gardening expert on BBC One's Garden Rescue and Gardener's World.
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But did you know that she worked in fashion for 25 years before pivoting gardening and television presenting?
Opening up about her career journey in a new interview, the 55-year-old revealed that after leaving school, she landed herself a junior role at a UK fashion brand. She quickly rose up the ranks and, by the end of the noughties, had worked for a variety of brands and reached senior management level in fashion buying and merchandising.
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"I walked into an employment agency to see what was available, and they offered me a customer admin role at the headquarters of Country Casuals ladies' clothing brand," she told Gardens Illustrated.
"I've always loved fashion so I really enjoyed being part of that world," she continued, adding: "No one thought I would go from fashion bunny to gardener. But I always said I didn't want to do fashion at 50, and my new garden was giving me so much joy that I thought that might be a sign."
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She explained that her passion for gardening was ignited when she planted three herbs from seed and managed to keep them alive. "Soon I was buying a plant here and a plant there and discovered that I loved it. I ended 2011 sitting on the end of my bed thinking 'I'm going to be a gardener' - although by 1 January 2012, it dawned on me that I really knew absolutely nothing about gardening!"
To help make the switch from fashion to gardening easier, she enrolled in a Garden Design course at London's leading specialist environmental college and took on a part-time role in retail consultancy so that she could continue to earn and have the flexibility to study.
© Photo: InstagramArit has presented Garden Rescue since 2019
"From then on my life was chaos. I had to keep my drawing board in the back of the car so I could work on college projects wherever the job took me, but I loved every minute of it," she said of the transition period.
However, it all paid off as just five years later, she began appearing as a co-presenter on Gardener's World. In 2019, she joined the likes of Charlie Dimmock and The Rich Brothers, designing spectacular green spaces for homeowners on Garden Rescue.
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Sadly though, she'll soon be saying her farewells to the series. In May, the BBC announced that Arit would be leaving to make way for new horticulture pros to have their time on the show. A statement read: "Arit Anderson and the Rich brothers have decided to leave the programme after this year, however, they will continue to feature in the latest series starting this month."
However, fans can look forward to seeing Harry, David and Arit in their final run on Garden Rescue series six which began airing on 24 May.
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