Nadiya Hussain has spoken of the horrific racism she faced when she used an apple in a Cornish pasty recipe.
The former Bake Off winner, 35, revealed that she has experienced more racism in the last five years than in her entire life.
She explained that she was ‘really affected’ by the online hate she received for replacing the traditional swede with apple in a Cornish Pasty recipe in 2017.
‘I got so much abuse on social media,’ the mother-of-three told Radio Times. ‘What I constantly read was, “What gives you the right to make a Cornish pasty?” And that really affected me.
‘I’ve definitely experienced more racism in the last five years than I have in my whole life.’
Nadiya, who is the daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants, doesn’t see any end in sight as racist trolls often face no consequences.
Former Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain, 35, told how she was racially abused after she used apple in a Cornish pasty recipe. Pictured, on April 20, 2020 in London
The TV star explained that she was ‘really affected’ by the online hate she received for posting a Cornish pasty recipe in 2017, where she’d replaced traditional swede with apple. Pictured, the recipe featured in her 2017 BBC show, Nadiya’s British Food Adventure
She said: ‘People get away with being racist and if you say, “Well, that was racist”, then it’s, “Take it on the chin” or “Oh, she’s got a chip on her shoulder”.
‘There’s definitely a sense that I should be grateful for what I do.
‘I’ve had to learn to have a thicker skin over the last few years, but I’ve also learnt that it’s really important to voice things and not just hold back.’
Nadiya, who won The Great British Bake Off in 2015, is back on screen with BBC show Nadiya Bakes on Wednesday, where she will create her favourite homemade cakes, bakes and pastries.
The controversial pasty recipe, which also contained peas, was featured in her 2017 show Nadiya’s British Food Adventure.
Nadiya said she constantly read, ‘What gives you the right to make a Cornish pasty?” Pictured, the chef was criticised for using apple in her Cornish pasty recipe
Speaking about what it’s like to be one of the few women of colour and faith on primetime TV, she said: ‘I now work in an industry that’s very much middle-aged, Caucasian, male, and there I am – a five foot one Muslim brown girl, and it’s not my world.
‘We have to question why there aren’t more people of colour working in television, publishing, the hospitality industry.
‘When I did this show I looked around and I thought, “Wow, there’s literally just me and the home economist, who’s Korean.”‘
Nadiya, who lives in Milton Keynes with husband Abdal and their three children, admitted that speaking out is hard because she worries that her TV work will dry up if she is seen to be ‘complaining’ about anything.
Nadiya, who won The Great British Bake Off in 2015, is back on screen with BBC show Nadiya Bakes on Wednesday, where she will create her favourite homemade cakes, bakes and pastries
She said: ‘I have this god-awful fear that nobody will want to work with me ever again. So I’m really scared.
‘The times that I have called it out, I’ve met with some serious negativity….I’m trying to get better.’
Nadiya, who received an MBE for services to broadcasting and the culinary arts in the New Year Honours in 2019, made a documentary about her lifelong struggle with anxiety, which aired last year.
She admitted that her mental health took a turn for the worse during lockdown.
‘Lockdown caused a massive decline in my mental health, and I have really, really bad days and sometimes I have really good days,’ she explained.
‘We know lots of people who have been diagnosed with Covid. We also know people who are not following the rules, so there’s this constant anxiety, which has been really tough.’