Nadiya Hussain has spoken candidly about why she thinks her BBC cookery show wasn’t recommissioned, claiming she no longer fit into the broadcaster’s “very neat box.”
Last month, the BBC confirmed it would not be moving forward with another series featuring the Great British Bake Off winner, 40, ending a decade-long on-screen partnership.
In a post on social media, Hussain reflected on the “invisible pressure” she felt to be constantly thankful for the opportunities she received, saying she had always been made to “feel grateful,” which made it harder to express dissatisfaction or ask for more.
Now in a new interview, the TV star, who rose to fame after winning 2015’s GBBO, opened up further, discussing her difficulties navigating the television industry as a Bangladeshi Muslim woman.
When asked by We Need to Talk podcast host Paul Brunson whether “speaking her truth” may have contributed to the show not being renewed, she replied that she had come to terms with the fact she was “very BBC” after exploring roles with other broadcasters.
She shared: “I suppose it means that they’ve got me exactly where they want me and utterly unbiased. And just they’ve got me where they want me. Neutral. And I am not neutral.
“I have opinions and I have things to say. They’ll keep you till you’re of no use to them.
“And I think that’s what happened. I think essentially I got lots of reasons why they couldn’t commission the show.”
She revealed that while she was given “rough reasons” for the decision not to recommission her show, there was nothing “definitive” provided.
Hussain continued: “My husband and I always spoke about it and he just said, ‘there’s going to be a point where they’re not going to need you anymore. And the second you don’t fit the box… there’ll be no space for you.’ And I suppose I don’t fit that space anymore.”
The GBBO alum also claimed the BBC asked her to announce her show’s end by saying she wanted to “focus on different projects”; a version of events she refused to share publicly, saying it was “not the truth.”
Hussain added that, going forward, she plans to show up as her “unfiltered” self. She reflected: “I just decided, clean slate. I no longer have an agent.
“Everyone’s gone, because I want it to start from scratch. As if I had won Bake Off ten years ago, when I had nobody but my husband and myself and my instinct and my gut and what it tells me.
“It’s been the most freeing thing to know that every decision I make is my own, and nobody gets to filter me.”
In response to her latest remarks, a spokesperson told The Standard: “After several wonderful series we have made the difficult decision not to commission another cookery show with Nadiya Hussain at the moment.
“Nadiya remains a much valued part of the BBC family, and we look forward to working together on future projects.”
Elsewhere in the podcast, Hussain recalled an uncomfortable appearance on a “very big breakfast show,” which she did not name. She said the presenters mocked a recipe from her cookbook, changing the name of her “chaat in a bag” dish to “shat in a bag.”
She reflected: “I found that really distasteful and really hateful. And I said, they need to apologise for that because that was really deeply disrespectful and nothing, nothing, nothing. They refused to apologise.”
The BBC confirmed last month that it would not be commissioning another cookery show with Hussain, who has fronted a number of popular series including The Chronicles of Nadiya, Nadiya’s Family Favourites, Nadiya’s Everyday Baking, and Cook Once, Eat Twice.
A June BBC statement read: “After several wonderful series, we have made the difficult decision not to commission another cookery show with Nadiya Hussain at the moment.”
