Victoria Rubadiri is one of Kenya’s most sought after news anchor and talk show host. Her professionalism in the media industry has put her at par with such greats as Larry Madowo and Jeff Koinange. This, coupled with her beauty, poise and ability to connect with the viewers, has made the anchor a darling to many.
Here is her inspiring story as told by WoK.
Victoria Rubadiri Age
The gorgeous news anchor was born on 28th January 1987 in Nairobi.
Education
Part of her primary school was in Kenya before relocating to the USA where she completed her studies. She joined Atlantic City High School in Atlanta before attending Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism.
Victoria Rubadiri Family
The news anchor has a sister named Mabel Rubadiri. At the age of 10, her family moved to the USA in search of greener pastures. She found it very difficult to fit into the new society which resulted in her being a loner.
Parents
Her mother is a mix between a Kalenjin and a Maasai while her father is Malawian. The grandmother is Kikuyu, Maasai and Seychellois while her grandfather, David Rubadiri is Kalenjin and Scottish.
The talk show host’s name was derived from her great grandfather who had converted to Islam upon returning from Omani, where he had been taken as a slave.
“ what happened is that my grandfather was taken as a slave to Omani. When he came back to Malawi of course he had converted to Islam and would pray five times a day, very staunch Muslim so his fellow villagers wondered what he was saying because he was praying in Arabic. So they would imitate him make fun of him and say aaaam rubadiri am rubadiri. So he liked it and noted that he would take up that name” Said Victoria.
Victoria’s grandfather James David Rubadiri was the vice Chancellor of Malawi University. He was a Malawian poet praised for his memorable literary works among them Poems from East Africa, No bride price, come to tea and An African Thunderstorm.
Victoria Rubadiri Marriage and Children
Rubadiri is not yet married. She got pregnant while still at the university. The baby’s father denied responsibility prompting a scared confused Victoria to contemplate abortion.
Her family were strongly against it, hence, she kept the baby. Later, things were sorted out between her and the baby’s father who currently lives in New Jersey.
The news anchor took to social media to celebrate her daughter who was joining university.
“Can’t believe this day is here. A good 19 years ago I was a college student faced with the reality of becoming your mother. Then you were something to behold, fragile, helpless and brand new to the world.
“Now I’m releasing you a strong, beautiful, intelligent and kind young woman. A whole, ENTIRE University student. You still are something to behold. I am so proud of you and can’t wait to see how you change this world. I love you,” wrote Rubdairi.
Career
Victoria Rubadiri did her fast voice over while 3 years old. In 2007, she started working as an intern and Assignment Desk Editor at WMGM-NBC 40 TV. She would write texts for the evening news programs and was field news reporter.
In 2008, the sought after news anchor started working as personal assistant for Angela Crockett, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Angela Crockett Enterprise Inc. In this role, her duties involved writing proposals, press releases and official letters.
Victoria still had a passion for journalism and in 2010 she relocated to Kenya with her daughter to try and eke out a living for them.
While working in Capital FM as a Business journalist and news presenter, she gained popularity among many Kenyans. Later, she moved to NTV as a news anchor.
Larry Madowo was her first co-presenter and the two had one of the most amazing on screen chemistry. People even thought the two had a love affair and were surprised when Victoria and Larry were given new job partners.
However, they denied the affair and Victoria said since they had new grapples ready, the administration chose to switch up things.
The high achiever anchor also started and produced a show called Victoria Lounge which became a major hit. The show would share experiences from people that have gone through a tough situation in their life in order to encourage others.
Citizen TV
Once again, citizen TV poached a news anchor from NTV and the anchor was Victoris Rubadiri. She was paired with Jeff Koinange fo host Citizen’s prime time news Sunday Live. The move enabled Victoria to work with a journalist who has been an inspiration to her for a long time.
“He has incredible journalistic skills. His work has spoken for him over the years. So for me to be able to work with him is just so surreal. I couldn’t respect him anymore”
The Citizen TV Presenter also hosts the Saturday news bulletin on her own.
She also moderates high level discussions of both regional and Continental importance. One of them was the East African business summit in Arusha that hosted six regional heads of states.