Nadiya Hussain: “Racism is part of my life”

Britain’s best loved Muslim woman, 'The Great British Bake Off' winner, Nadiya Hussain, stated in an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs programme that being on the receiving end of many forms of racism is part of her life.

She told Desert Island Discs presenter Kirsty Young that before, during and after winning the programme, she has been on the receiving end of racism, stating:

I’ve had things thrown at me, been pushed and shoved. I feel like that’s just become a part of my life now. I expect it. Absolutely I expect it.”

Shortly after winning the very popular cake baking show, Hussain and her family received a deluge of hate, including threats to her and her family. The police checked her home to see if she was safe and have investigated a number of serious threats.

Her biggest worry was that because of winning she had put her children in even more danger than they were already accustomed to.

Given that Hussain is not a politician or a controversial person, on the contrary, her experience shines a glaring light on the nation's uncomfortable truth: Even the most endearing and proudly British Black, Asian and/or Muslims are still subject to constant racism and Islamophobia.

If a popular figure such as Nadiya Hussain, who recently baked for the Queen’s 90th Birthday, can’t escape the scourges of racism, who can?

Simon Woolley