Great British Bake Off star, Nadiya Hussain, has revealed her grandfather was racially abused by thugs and was ‘left for dead three times’.
The 39-year-old is a second-generation British Bangladeshi and grew up in Luton, Bedfordshire before she delighted 15 million fans of the BBC cooking programme when she won the sixth series in 2015.
But Ms Hussain has revealed the hardships faced by her family, she said: ‘When my grandad came to the country he was abused really badly by racists, and he was left for dead three times.’
‘But he refused to leave because he could see that his children and grandchildren would have a better life here than in Bangladesh.
Great British Bake Off star, Nadiya Hussain, has revealed her grandfather was racially abused by thugs and was ‘left for dead three times
‘And he made that sacrifice, despite knowing that he wasn’t welcome. I know he would be so proud of me because he now has a granddaughter with an MBE, and it would signify belonging,’ she told the Radio Times.
It comes after the award-winning chef had to install panic buttons in her home in Milton Keynes after receiving death threats including to her three children – Musa, 12, Dawud, 11, and Mariam, eight.
She said: ‘I was getting descriptions of how I and my children should die. The most horrific things. When we go out, we’re careful.’
After she the BBC flagship show in 2015, Ms Hussain detailed how racist abuse had become a part of her everyday life.
The 39-year-old is a second-generation British Bangladeshi and grew up in Luton, Bedfordshire (pictured with her father)
Ms Hussain has revealed the hardships faced by her family, she said: ‘When my grandad came to the country he was abused really badly by racists’ (pictured with her mother)
The award-winning chef had to install panic buttons in her home in Milton Keynes after receiving death threats including to her three children – Musa, 12, Dawud, 11, and Mariam, eight
She told Desert Island Discs in 2016: ‘It sounds really really silly but it feels like that’s become a part of my life now – I expect it.
I expect to be shoved or pushed or verbally abused because it happens, it’s happened for years.
Read the full interview in this week’s Radio Times
‘I love being British and I love living here, this is my home and it always will be regardless of all the other things that define me.’
‘This is my home and I want my kids to be proud of that and I don’t want them to grow up with a chip on their shoulder, so I live as positively as I can.’
Ms Hussain’s appearance and ensuing popularity on the Great British Bake Off has been credited as an important step toward shifting stereotypes about the Muslim community and acceptance of cultural diversity.
After amassing a large following on social media, her fans described themselves as Nadiyators and have supported her flourishing career from a BBC One travelogue show, The Chronicles of Nadiya, to various columns in the food supplements of magazines.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk