And TV chef still suffers panic attacks

NADIYA Hussain has revealed she suffered horrific racist bullying at primary school, which left her with crippling panic attacks ever since. of worry is always there. I hear the beating of my heart in my chest and it goes to my head and I have a panic attack. It feels like you’re going to die.

“Imagine what kind of a life you live if you worry about dying every day?”

Nadiya, one of five siblings born in Luton, reveals she could not tell her Bangladeshi-born parents about the bullying as a child because their two youngest were sick. She adds: “I didn’t say anything. It just wouldn’t be fair.”

Prof Salkovskis tells her bottling it up could be one of the reasons behind her anxiety in adult life. And after years of struggling in silence, Nadiya is relieved to be told 80% of people suffering her type of panic attacks are able to treat it.

She says: “You’re saying I could be free of panic?”

He says in many of her attacks she is reminded of that terrifying time when she genuinely feared for her life in the school toilets. But he adds: “It’s important to remember it is never going to happen to you again.”

Nadiya’s motivation for visiting a therapist is partly to show husband Abdul, daughter Maryam and sons Musa and Dawud that she can overcome this “monster”.

She hopes her talking will inspire others to seek help and fight the stigma linked to mental health issues. And Nadiya, who won Bake Off in 2105, says she often turns to cooking in a bid to keep her demons at bay.

■ Nadiya: Anxiety and Me, 9pm, airs on Wednesday May 15, BBC1, and is part of the BBC mental health season.