The Great British Bake-Off winner Nadiya Hussain has suffered years of racial abuse and says her wedding day was one of the worst days of her life.
The baking star made the revelations on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs at the weekend and in an upcoming BBC documentary, The Chronicles of Nadiya, where she returns to Bangladesh to be reunited with her extended family.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Racial abuse
Speaking to Kirsty Young Desert Island Discs, Hussain said racial abuse has been part of her life "for years", especially after "massive things happen" in the news, such as the 11 September attacks. "I've had things thrown at me and [been] pushed and shoved," she said. "I feel like that's just become a part of my life now. I expect it. Absolutely I expect it."
When asked how she reacts, Hussain said: "I feel like there's a dignity in silence and I think if I retaliate to negativity with negativity, then we've evened out."
She added it was important that her children didn't develop a negative attitude to living in the UK. "Yes, there are those negative people, but they are the minority," she said.
Her discs include reggae, pop and classics
Hussain's musical choices on Desert Island Discs were varied, but strongly reflected nostalgic moments in her life. Bob Marley's No Woman, No Cry reminded her of her father's much-loved record player, while Counting Crows' Accidentally In Love made her think of her six-month telephone courtship with her husband and Pachelbel's Canon made her recall the mobile in her babies' cot.
Her other choices included Janet Jackson, Backstreet Boys, Katie Melua, Isley Brothers and Luther Vandross, songs that marked key moments during her youth. Her chosen luxury item was Marmite.
Her wedding day was miserable
The Chronicles of Nadiya sees Hussain attend a family wedding that prompts her to discuss her arranged marriage to husband Abdal when she was 19. Her wedding day "was one of the worst days of my life", she says. "One of the unspoken rules is as a bride you have to behave submissively and look downcast," Hussain added, but she was an "emotional wreck and I cried through the whole thing". Hussain said she was uncomfortable with being put on show and would never understand the custom of why the bride wasn't supposed to smile.
A happy ending - but she wouldn't repeat it
Hussain's own marriage has had a happy ending and she enjoys a successful marriage – but she wouldn't do things that way again. "If I was the person I am now, I certainly would not have gone into a contract," she says. "I wouldn't take out a mortgage contract without knowing how much money I am putting in and what my mortgage is, so why would I sign a marriage contract where I don't know what I am getting myself into?" She also vowed her children would not experience an arranged marriage: "I want something different for my children. I wouldn't dream of arranging a marriage."
She cheats with pastry and chips
Despite wowing millions with her "from scratch" cooking skills on television, the mother of three is happy to cut corners at home. In the documentary, she is shown serving up oven-cooked frozen chips and making Asian flatbread from store-bought puff pastry. "I don't do any of the hard work," she says. "I just buy a packet of frozen puff pastry and then pull bits from it. You then get flaky flatbreads without any of the hard work."
The Chronicles of Nadiya is on BBC 1 on 24 August at 9pm, directly after the first episode of the new series of The Great British Bake Off.
