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Seven things to know about NTV’S Olive Burrows


Journalist Olive Burrows will be part of the new faces set to grace your television screens starting next week.

Burrows, the only Kenyan journalist who interviewed former US President Barack Obama during his visit to Kenya, has joined the NTV roster of news anchors and will be unveiled after the World Cup.

She told Nairobi News that she is looking forward to learning new things from experienced colleagues like Mark Masai. The two were paired with during rehearsals on Wednesday and for a moment she got nervous and intimidated.

“This is like the world series. News anchoring seems easy until I went in and I was humbled. I came on and my shoulder was skewed. It’s a challenge that I am ready for and I’ve come to appreciate the team effort that goes into the news so I’ll give it my best and will not be the team member who drops the ball, letting the team down,” she said.

Here are few things to know about the news anchor.

1. Her middle name is Kalekye
Burrows is an only child, born to a Kamba mother, now deceased, and a Kenyan father whose background features a British father and Tanzanian mother. She has half sisters and brothers and identifies more with her mother’s side. Her biggest regret is not learning Kikamba which her nephews aged four and three have been keen on teaching her.

2. She is a foodie
Cooking is therapeutic for her and she loves trying out new recipes. When her father once asked what he could get her for Christmas she asked for a cookbook which turned out to be quite a volume. She loves trying out new cuisines and so the book is her go to when it comes to recipes.

3. Her favorite food is chips and chicken
On her third day at NTV, she was so overwhelmed by the new challenge to the point of seeking solace in her comfort food – chips and chicken. She dashed to KFC Kimathi Street and stuffed her face while questioning whether she had bitten more than she could chew by taking up the new job.

But her new colleagues and friends prevailed on her to go easy on herself and focus on the one person who is watching her.

P.S: After her historic Obama interview she got herself some masala chips and chicken to celebrate.

4. She is recluse
Burrows likes keeping her private life under wraps to the point her family never gets to know much about her. Her late mother was outgoing, but Olive is the opposite, always the more intense and serious one, always looking for the people sitting in a corner during gathering so that they can be her kindred spirit. She describes herself as a shy person who many may think is snobbish.

5. She loves reading
Chimamanda Adichie, Malcom Gladwell and Khaled Hosseini, just to name a few of the authors who popped up during the interview, have won her heart with their writing styles. She described Chimamanda’s writing style as the descriptive form she loves to emulate.

There is a night she couldn’t put down Khaled Hosseini’s A thousand Splendid Suns despite having had an early morning at work the next day.

6. Her favourite destination is Rondo Retreat in Kakamega Forest
She attributes her love for journalism to the fact that she gets to experience new things every day. It is while on one of her work trips that she visited her favourite destination, the Rondo Retreat. She would also love to visit Lamu and Zanzibar because of their rich cultural heritage.

7. She is a homebody
Olive says she has no problem just sticking in her house except when there is a new destination to explore. She loves movies and she prefers to watch at the cinemas with friends. She also loves all kinds of music, describing how she developed a love for reggae while in matatus on her way to Ruaka where she used to live.