THE Great British Bake Off (GBBO) winner Nadiya Hussain appeared on Kate Garraway’s Life Stories show on ITV in February 2022. During the episode, she spoke about how her husband Abdul Hussain, who also appeared on the show, pushed her to apply for GBBO.
“For me, entering Bake Off was unthinkable and not something I would ever have done. Abdul encouraged me to,” she said. “Yes, he did all the boring bits!” Hussain also explained how cooking for her husband prompted her to start baking. During the show, her husband also spoke about his wife’s struggles with mental health and anxiety.
Hussain has stressed the importance of diverse representation in the food industry as she guest-edited the February issue of BBC Good Food magazine. As guest editor, the chef shared stories from some of her favourite food producers, restaurateurs, and recipe writers, including Rob Allison, Mursal Saiq and Tiffany Chang.
While talking about the importance of representation, Hussain said that she didn’t see a curry being cooked on TV by someone like her mother when she was younger.
In June 2021, it was announced that Hussain will host a new cookery series on BBC. She is set to present Nadiya’s Fast Flavours which will see the star share her favourite recipes with viewers.
Hussain’s successful cooking series, Nadiya’s Time to Eat, premiered on Netflix in April 2020, another show Nadiya Bakes ran on Netflix in 2021. Since winning the GBBO show in 2015, Hussain has released a cookbook, Time to Eat, and a memoir, Finding My Voice. She has also become a staple on BBC, starring in multiple shows, including the two-part docuseries The Chronicles of Nadiya, where she explores her culinary heritage in Bangladesh, as well as judging Junior Bake Off.
A stay-at-home mum who loved cooking, Hussain is considered Bake Off’s biggest success story. An inspiration for British Muslim women, Hussain has “done more for British-Muslim relations than 10 years of government policy,” states a report for Panorama.
Since winning the competition, Hussain has found television roles as guest presenter, been commissioned to present cookery shows and baked the Queen’s 90th birthday cake.
She is also the author of Nadiya’s Kitchen, Nadiya’s British Food Adventure; kids cookbooks Nadiya’s Bake Me a Story and Nadiya’s Bake Me a Festive Story; and has penned a novel titled The Secret Lives of the Amir Sisters and The Fall and Rise of the Amir Sisters.
The 36-year-old was born in Luton in 1984, on Christmas Day, to a British Bangladeshi family. She developed an interest in cooking from an early age, thanks to her father who owns a restaurant. Becoming a chef was not part of her plan. With the hopes of becoming a social worker, Hussain took up religious studies, English language and psychology in college.
In 2005, aged 20, Hussain married her husband Abdul and moved to Leeds. Abdul pushed her to give the The Great British Bake Off a shot, because he wanted her to find herself.
It was a surreal moment when it was announced she had won the show. All she remembers is handing back the trophy and saying, “Are you sure you haven’t made a mistake?” Although she is a firm believer that nothing lasts forever, Nadiya wants to believe she can do this forever.