Nighat Arif

Nighat Arif DL (born 9 February 1984) is a British broadcaster from Chesham. Born in Pakistan, she moved to the UK aged nine, and became a doctor to prevent an arranged marriage, taking a post at a practice in Chesham. She began making appearances on television in May 2019 while on maternity leave, and later became the resident doctor for BBC Breakfast and ITV's This Morning. Arif operates a TikTok account, which had nearly half a million followers in August 2023. Arif made four appearances in Countdown Dictionary Corner in April 2024. She published a medical guide, The Knowledge, in 2023.

Early life Arif was born on 9 February 1984 in Pakistan; she moved to the UK aged nine with her mother, arriving in April 1993. She speaks Punjabi as a first language, taught herself English by watching EastEnders, and was the first in her family to speak the language. moved to the UK at the end of 1984, was the Imam for Chesham Mosque, and was made a Member of the order of the British Empire in the 2020 New Year Honours; her uncles, cousins, and grandfathers were subsidy farmers. She became a doctor to avoid an arranged marriage, knowing that education was the one pathway her parents would not object to; she decided on medicine after her careers advisor told her that veterinary science was the longest such pathway and deciding that animals were not for her.

Media career Arif first appeared on television in May 2019, when BBC Breakfast dedicated a week of programmes to the menopause. At the time, Arif was on maternity leave and was breastfeeding, and agreed to appear on the programme after its planning editor gave her an offer of having her makeup done. She then made numerous appearances as Breakfast resident GP as well as on ITV's This Morning and hosted BBC Three Counties Radio's Sunday Breakfast Show. Arif appeared on Countdown in April 2024, making four appearances.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Arif began uploading content to her TikTok account to dispense information quickly, having been inspired to do so by her patients. A video of her receiving the vaccine went viral online, and had been viewed by over 100,000 people by March 2021. In August 2023, the Times noted that she "often subtitles or narrates her posts about female health in Punjabi and Urdu" and that the only words for menopause in these languages translated to "barren" and "off the rag". Later that month, the i wrote that she had nearly half a million followers on the platform. The book makes use of coloured backgrounds to aid neurodivergent people, a decision inspired by her own dyslexia, and includes content on trans health and LGBT issues and life-like diagrams of both brown and black bodies. She was nominated for Muslim Woman of the Year at the British Muslim Awards in 2022 In March 2024, Arif was named as one of 28 deputy lieutenants for Buckinghamshire.