Nadiya Hussain appears on Kate Garraway’s Life Stories tonight (Thursday February 10), but how did she become famous, who is her husband and how much is she worth?
Here’s everything you need to know about the woman who took the cooking world by storm.
Childhood trauma
However, Nadiya’s childhood wasn’t all plain sailing.
In 2019, she bravely opened up about the childhood abuse she suffered at the hands of a relative when she was only five-years-old.
In her memoir Finding My Voice, she detailed the horrific incident and opened up about the PTSD and anxiety she’s suffered from ever since.
“No doubt that would have played a role in my PTSD, my panic disorder,” she said in an interview.
“It must have done, because it’s a memory that has stayed with me forever.”
Nadiya also added that she only understood the gravity of the situation when she had sex education at school.
How did Nadiya Hussain become famous?
Always fascinated with cooking and baking, and watching YouTube videos and reading cookery books, her world turned upside down when she appeared on series six The Great British Bake Off in 2015.
At the time she was living in Leeds with her husband and her three children.
In her spare time, she studied for an Open University degree in Childhood and Youth Services.
However, after encouragement from her husband, she applied.
And, despite stiff competition, her skill and incredible personality won out.
Now, she has written books, writes a column in The Times and has had three cooking series on BBC Two.
She told The Guardian in 2021: “[Bake Off] changed the course of my life.
“And the truth is, I didn’t go in with the intention of coming out of it with a career.
“So I never did it for that reason. But it made me realise that there’s more to me than just being a mum and being a wife and being very good at laundry [laughs].
“I think somewhere in between, I’d forgotten what I loved, and what I enjoyed and what made me who I am.”
What is Nadiya Hussain’s ethnicity?
Nadiya was born on Christmas Day in Luton, Bedfordshire in 1984 and is a second-generation British Bangladeshi.
About her childhood, the 37-year-old said on her website: “I grew up in a house with my mum and dad, and five siblings.
Read more: When did Nadiya Hussain win GBBO?
“Believe me, being one of six kept our home lively.”
With two older sisters, a younger sister and two younger brothers, Nadiya’s house was always busy.
“There was always someone to fight with,” she says.
“The best thing was, that there was always someone. What I did learn about myself very early on was that I didn’t want to have six kids!”
Why did Nadiya change her hijab?
Aside from her mega-watt smile, sheer baking talent and positive energy, Nadiya’s appearance on Bake Off was deemed important when it comes to representing Muslim women on TV.
And one of her trademarks during the show was her black hijab, or head covering.
However, after the show she changed it.
She revealed to The Times the real reason for the change.
Nadiya said that she first began wearing the headscarf because of her “bad hair more than anything else” and because her dad “cut it really badly”.
And then she made a trip to her roots in Bangladesh.
Even the locals asked she why was wearing a headscarf.
“I went to Bangladesh and somebody said: ‘Why have you got your head bandaged? Have you injured your head?’ That’s how uncommon it was.”
How did Nadiya Hussain lose weight?
In 2018 Nadiya revealed she lost a whopping three stone.
She told Hello! magazine: “After I was married and a mum, I got comfortable, my husband loved me, the house was warm, I was happy. I was a size 16/18.
“I decided three years ago to do something about my weight. I briefly tried meal replacements and lost a stone but they didn’t suit me.”
So instead she cut down her meal sizes, drank more water and increased her exercise regime, especially walking.
Is Nadiya a vegetarian?
In 2018, Nadiya revealed that she and her family tried veganism for a short period.
For two weeks, she and her family stuck to a vegan diet.
And the consequences of the experiment? They now only eat meat at weekends and have switched from cow’s milk to non-dairy alternatives.
She says that the experiment opened her mind to vegan substitutes.
However, the switch was tricky, especially for her children.
She said in an interview: “You can imagine the look on my kids’ faces when I announced, ‘guys, we’re going vegan for a week – maybe even two if you’re lucky!’.
“The resounding silence was a sure sign that they weren’t impressed.”
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Is Nadiya Hussain still married?
When she was 20, Nadiya married Abdal Hussain in an arranged marriage.
They had only met once before, and Nadiya has been honest about the experience.
In an interview with Good Housekeeping magazine in 2017, she said: “It’s tough – you are pretty much marrying a complete stranger.”
However, the two ‘remarried’ in 2018.
She also revealed that she does not want her children – sons Musa and Dawud, and daughter Maryam – to go down the same route.
“We need to move with the times. I don’t think [my children] need me to find them a husband or a wife. They will do a better job than I will,” she said.
How much is Nadiya worth?
Since her amazing win on Bake Off, Nadiya’s career has flourished.
Thanks to her winning personality, fab recipes (fish finger lasagne, anyone?) and her TV series and books, she’s making a good living for herself and her family.
The website Celebworth.net claims that her net worth is £3.6million.
Amazing stuff, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer person!
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