‘I’ve wanted to bleach the brown out of my skin’: GBBO winner Nadiya Hussein says she used to think ‘life would have been so much easier if I wasn’t Bangladeshi’ – but now embraces her heritage
- Nadiya said there are times she ‘wanted to bleach the brown out of her skin’
- TV chef said ‘life would have been so much easier if I wasn’t brown’
- But added she now embraces her ‘Britishness’ and her ‘Bangledeshiness’
Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain has admitted there have been times when she ‘wanted to bleach the brown out of her skin’.
Nadiya, 36, who was born in Luton to Bangladeshi parents, said ‘life would have been so much easier if I wasn’t brown, if I wasn’t Bangladeshi’, but that she has now learned to embrace both her ‘Britishness’ and her ‘Bangladeshiness’.
The TV chef and baker shared her thoughts on BBC Three documentary Being British Bangladeshi, presented by comedian Ali Shahalom.
Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain has admitted there have been times when she ‘wanted to bleach the brown out of her skin’ in a new BBC Three documentary (pictured)
She said: ‘I’m a firm believer that as a Bangladeshi and a British, I will take the good bits from this bit, and the good bits from that bit.
‘I believe we live happily in that grey area. I’m proud to say that I mix up my “Britishness” and my “Bangledeshiness” in cookbooks that people actually really like.’
She continued: ‘There are times when I’ve wanted to bleach the brown out of me – because life would have been so much easier if I wasn’t brown, if I wasn’t Bangladeshi, if I could just be like everybody else.
‘But I come with all of those layers that I do represent and I understand the importance of that now.’
Nadiya, who won Great British Bake Off in 2015, said she has become more comfortable talking about representation in the years since she was catapulted into the spotlight.
‘If you and me were talking five years ago, I would have said, “Let’s talk about baking”,’ she said in the interview with Shahalom.
Nadiya, 36, who was born in Luton to Bangladeshi parents, said in a BBC Three documentary that ‘life would have been so much easier if I wasn’t brown, if I wasn’t Bangladeshi’, but that she has now learned to embrace both her ‘Britishness’ and her ‘Bangladeshiness’
‘Now, it’s far more important for me to talk about representation, as much as it is about baking cakes.
‘Even I, even on this platform, I forget sometimes that I’m actually quite good at what I do, and that’s because we were raised to always be very humble.
‘We were always raised to stay quiet, to be grateful. I remember my gran always saying “be grateful, you are in their country, be grateful”. And to be honest, “do you what nan, I am grateful, but I can also be great. I can also be great”.’
Speaking last year, Nadiya, who now lives in London with her husband and three children, revealed she’s experienced more racism in the last five years working on TV than ever before in her life.
She took to Instagram and penned: ‘Just because you don’t experience racism, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, it does!
Speaking last year, Nadiya, who lives in London with her husband and three children, revealed she’s experienced more racism in the last five years working on TV than ever before in her life
‘I have experienced more racism in 5 years working in the TV/Food industry than any other time of my life and it’s time to call it out!’
Nadiya, one of six children born to Bangladeshi parents, shared the post with her 523,000 followers alongside the hashtag: ‘#CallRacismOut’.
In January 2018, Nadiya posted a passionate response defending herself against anti-Muslim comments on Twitter.
The television star said she felt like a ‘punching bag’ and was constantly having to ‘take one for the team’ after being attacked on the social media site.
In a string of emotive tweets, the British-born mother-of-three revealed her frustration at being told to ‘go back’ to ‘Muslim countries’, saying: ‘I’m getting fed up of being told to go home! For the millionth time, I AM HOME!’
She also implored her followers to realise that racism still exists, saying ‘The world hasn’t changed that much’.
And speaking on Desert Island Discs in August 2016, she said: ‘I’ve had things thrown at me and been pushed and jabbed. It sounds really silly because I feel that it’s just become a part of my life now.
‘I expect it. I absolutely expect to be shoved or pushed or verbally abused because it happens. It’s been happening for years.’
Source: Read Full Article