LIFE LESSONS
Her life was transformed when she won The Great British Bake Off. Nadiya Hussain reveals how she juggles family and fame, and shares what she’s learnt from her arranged marriage...
Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain
Laughter makes a happy home. As long as we are all laughing, we are all right. When I am at home with my husband and our three children, if one of us is sad, everyone wants to know why, and then we all want to fix it. If I’m sad, my kids will run around me asking what’s wrong? They are fixers and want to fix everything.
I’m teaching my children the importance of independence. They won’t be living with me when they’re 18 – I’ve got a cruise to go on! My children do chores and stack the dishwasher. I don’t give them pocket money for doing chores. I don’t get paid to do the dishes, so they don’t either.
Marriage is about perseverance. I had an arranged marriage, and learnt you have to persevere and remember we are all human and all have faults. Obviously my husband Abdal has more faults than I do! We had to live through the good and the bad, and have come out the other side. Love is strange… It creeps up on you and then smacks you in the face. I didn’t know my husband, and then we had two children, and then I fell in love with him.
I don’t want arranged marriages for my children. It’s tough – you are pretty much marrying a complete stranger. We need to move with the times. I don’t think they need me to find them a husband or a wife. They will do a better job than I will.
We have learnt how to compromise since I won GBBO. It has taken us two years to get some sort of balance. There are times when I’m not at home for a few days. I have a weekly meal plan so the kids know exactly what they’re eating. My 10-year-old is amazing in the kitchen. He will look at the meal plan board, get food out of the freezer and cook it. He is great at doing the ironing, too.
Don’t underestimate the power of books. I read To Kill A Mockingbird and Underground To Canada when I was doing my GCSES. They were my first insight into freedom and equality and the fact that there are people outside of my bubble who don’t have freedom. I didn’t really understand that concept of equality until I read them.
I know now I don’t have to do everything. It’s not a family because I have to run the whole thing, it’s a family because we work together for it to run. It’s a team effort. For me as a mum, I put too much pressure on myself. I’ve learnt that I am better at being a mother than I thought I was.
It’s all about the simple things in life. I still bake fresh bread every day when I am at home because that’s what my kids are used to. When I make time for myself, I usually lock myself in the bathroom and have a bubble bath and read a book. I never get away, though. My daughter sits outside the door and says to me: ‘I know you are feeling really lonely in there mum. I will chat to you!’
My kids won’t be living with me when they’re 18 – I’ve got a cruise to go on!