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Nadiya's Cook Once, Eat Twice© Tom Kirkman,BBC

Nadiya Hussain's health diagnoses explained after 'tough year' of getting sick

The former Bake Off winner opened up about her tough time

Francesca Shillcock
Senior Features Writer
October 20, 2024
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Nadiya Hussain has been a friendly and familiar face on our television screens ever since she was crowned winner of the Great British Bake Off in 2015.

The 39-year-old, who is appearing on this weekend's edition of Saturday Kitchen's Best Bites, has also become known for her cookbooks and her other TV shows including Nadiya's Family Favourites and, more recently, Cook Once, Eat Twice.

But away from her presenting and cooking career, Nadiya has had a tough time recently dealing with sickness.

Nadiya on her new show Cook Once, Eat Twice © Tom Kirkman
Nadiya on her new show Cook Once, Eat Twice

The chef took to her Instagram to share the news with her followers.

Nadiya explains her illness and diagnoses

Nadiya explained that, after various health tests, she has been diagnosed with two autoimmune diseases.

She made the revelation while making an impassioned speech about looking after your own health, particularly as a busy working mum who "often burns the candle at both ends".

"I cannot express enough the importance of taking care of yourself. I don't take time out for myself. I don't really know what that means or what that feels like. Not really. 

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"And when I do take time for myself, I feel incredibly guilty," she began, adding that her alone was "minimal".

"But recently, mostly this year, but over the course of two years, I've been quite unwell. I've just been getting quite sick. And over the course of the two years, I've been diagnosed with two autoimmune diseases, which I'm not going to go into now."

Nadiya's Cook Once, Eat Twice © Tom Kirkman
Nadiya's Cook Once, Eat Twice

Nadiya clarified: "I will go into in the future when I know more about it and when I have a better handle on it and when I understand it a little bit better. But till then, I cannot express the importance of listening to your body, of taking care of yourself.

"It's been a really tough year because of all the tests and trying to work stuff out and getting my head around things. But I feel like it's really important to come out the other side."

Nadiya often shares honest content on her social media
View post on Instagram
 

The TV star then said that she felt a sense of gratitude: "I feel blessed that although, you know, it'd be great not to be sick, I'm here. I really want to share that with you guys, because I think we don't say that to each other enough."

She finished her video with: "So take care of yourself. Listen to your body. Listen to your instincts and press push. If there's something not right, press push. Make sure you get to the bottom of it."

Nadiya's home life

Nadiya lives at home in Milton Keynes with her husband, Abdal, and their three children, Musa, Dawud and Maryam.

The family of five previously lived in Leeds but moved down south to be closer to the capital which is where she has worked most of the time off the back of her GBBO success. 

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