Life after ‘Bake Off ’ for the popular TV chef

The celebrity chef tells Nicky Harley about living under lockdown, and shares three recipes

Five years have passed since Nadiya Hussain, 35, stole the hearts of a nation when she served up that special blend of culinary prowess and engaging personality on

The Great British Bake Off. More than 15 million viewers tuned in to watch the final as Hussain was catapulted from being a stay-at-home mother-of-three to unimagined heights of fame.

She has been awarded an MBE and even baked the cake for Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday in 2016. And now she has gone global on Netflix. As her series, Nadiya’s Time

to Eat, is beamed to millions of homes worldwide, a whole new audience is meeting the mild-mannered, first-generation British-Bangladeshi born and raised in Bedfordshire. The show, with its emphasis on time-saving meals and using ingredients commonly stocked in kitchen cupboards, has become a saviour for many amid the Covid-19 crisis.

But the journey to becoming a multimedia star has not been plain sailing for Hussain. Her struggles with anxiety over the years mean she knows all too well of the impact the coronavirus lockdown can have on mental health, especially for parents juggling homeschooling with work in isolation. “It is really easy to feel useless in lockdown,” she says. “All the women in my life are key workers: my sisters work in a school, pharmacy and doctor’s surgery, and my mum works in a hospital.

“Lockdown is really hard with the impact on mental health. Because I am at home, I feel slightly useless, so I share my baking with the local hospital and the fire service and the people who have been forgotten.

“I make them meals. It’s not about saying ‘look what I am doing’. This year, we could not share our food together at iftars, but we can share with people who do need it ... the response has been lovely.”

Hussain says her children, aged 9, 12 and 13, have been diligent with their schooling during lockdown, but not so much with their helping in the kitchen now that the whole family is at home full time. They are, she says with a laugh, less interested in the cooking itself than in the end result. “Normally, I put post-it notes out for them on what to make for dinner, but now, because I’m at home, there is no room for them to jump in,” Hussain explains. “But they have been amazing – the children are being tremendous in dealing with such an unusual situation and are so resilient.”

Her childhood was spent in Luton, near London, but Hussain’s father would regularly take her and her five siblings back to his family’s small village in Bangladesh, where her grandfather was a rice farmer. The experiences, coming face-to-face with extreme poverty compared with her English upbringing, made her recognise the importance of not wasting food, and not allowing opportunities to pass by.

These early travels have inspired many of the recipes in Time to Eat, and now, more than ever, Hussain’s many fans – some of whom call themselves “Nadiyators” – are relying on her money-saving tips as they shop for essentials in such challenging times. “I’m really excited about the show,” she says. “For me, it was all about the way I cook and the way I live. It is about saving time and planning on how to use the freezer more and storing, which is really convenient right now, and using the equipment you have at home.”

The feedback, as it were, from the Netflix programme, has been incredible, Hussain says, seeming genuinely stunned to think that people are watching around the world. She explains that a career in cooking was not something she planned. She never even thought to apply to appear as a contestant on The Great British

Bake Off – her husband sent in the application on her behalf.

Since winning the final back in 2015, life has been a whirlwind of activity in which she has made television and radio programmes, and written several books for adults and children. “When I went on the show, I did not anticipate what would happen afterwards,” Hussain says. “I didn’t go out for a career. Cooking is something I love to do; it doesn’t feel like a job. I still find it bizarre people recognise me and that globally people know who I am.

“I’ve recently been to Louisiana and Canada. I didn’t expect anyone to know who I am, but people recognised me and it just froze my mind.”

Reflecting on the past few years, she says her many successes have emphasised the importance of making the most of every moment. Sometimes, she says, she has to pinch herself to make sure it had all come to pass, especially the MBE, which she describes as “a big deal”.

“I do not take for granted what has happened,” she says. “My family and I are open about death and mortality, and you have to take every opportunity that comes. No one could have guessed 2020 would be in lockdown – it just shows you need to take the chances in life when they come.”