Nadiya Hussain exposes racist and sexist TV industry as ‘broken’

Nadiya Hussain has labelled the TV industry as “broken” in an interview with the Guardian, where she exposed the racist and sexist system, which she explains is paying Black and Brown women less than their white counterparts.

Nadiya Hussain speaks out on gaslighting

Nadiya rose to fame in 2015 when she was crowned champion of the Great British Bake Off. She quickly became a much-loved cultural fixture, publishing cookbooks and children’s books, and making TV shows.

In Summer 2025, Nadiya posted a video on Instagram saying that the BBC had decided not to commission another cookery show. Earlier that year, she published a cookery book titled ‘Rooza’. It was inspired by dishes from across the Islamic world, especially at Ramadan and Eid.

She knew it would not be attached to a TV series. However, the BBC then told her they would not be making her next book, Nadiya’s Quick Comforts, into a series, either.

The BBC then said:

After several wonderful series, we have made the difficult decision not to commission another cookery show with Nadiya Hussain at the moment.

Nadiya then discussed gaslighting in the industry on Instagram without naming the BBC. She emphasised that as a Muslim woman, she rarely felt supported and TV bosses did not allow her to fulfil her potential.

Soon after, Nadiya left her agent and manager.

Nadiya told the Guardian:

The last year has been intense, really exposing, but it has been really enlightening at the same time.

She told the Guardian that she had been feeling uncomfortable in her job for a while, along with dealing with health issues, which included an autoimmune diagnosis. She said:

I started to feel like a caricature of myself. I’d become a version of myself that was manufactured and comfortable for everybody.

I’d become this palatable version of a Muslim that could be on television, that could write cookbooks. I’d become this really comfortable version of myself that was easy to digest.

‘Overwhelming whiteness’

Nadiya has spoken publicly many times about the “overwhelming whiteness” of TV and publishing.

Over the last year, she has realised how broken the system really is, and that she can’t change a broken industry.

She added that:

It’s always been really difficult to be the only person like me in a room.

And understandably, she’s tired of people asking if things have changed or “are we doing better?”

She told the Guardian that she:

has no evidence that it was Rooza that meant some brands no longer wanted to work with her, but this is the feeling she can’t shake.

She continued:

It was really interesting, because I felt like people had just twigged, ‘Oh, she’s a Muslim’, and suddenly I wasn’t palatable any more. Suddenly I wasn’t the same Nadiya that I was before, because before I was writing cookbooks that were for everybody, and now I wrote this book that didn’t feel inclusive.”

But her faith and culture are a huge part of who she is, and she thinks that made people uncomfortable.

Nadiya realised that she had very little control over her career. She said the feeling intensified when she saw the world not embrace her new book, Rooza, as it had previous books, especially when she was so “immensely proud” of this one.

She said:

I know how many people felt seen and heard with a cookbook like that. I write something that is really close to my heart, and suddenly I’m losing brand deals and people don’t want to work with me any more.

A neat little box

Nadiya felt as if the TV and publishing industries had put her into a neat little box. But suddenly, she didn’t fit. Quite beautifully, she realised:

I have to be the most authentic version of myself.

I just softened my edges enough to fit in. Even things like I changed the way I wore my headscarf because it felt more modern to wear it a different way. I did that without even realising it. I much prefer to wear it this way [covering her neck, as opposed to wrapping only her hair], but this makes me somehow look more Muslim.

The people around her also suggested that she should not post anything political on social media, such as Israel’s genocide in Gaza. She complained many times about people making misogynistic or racist comments, but bosses always told her:

‘That’s just the way they are’, or ‘just ignore them’.

She wished she hadn’t let stuff go. However, she knew the higher-ups would see her as “difficult” if she complained. Which tells you all you need to know about the state of the industry.

She added that, as a woman of colour, she felt she should be “endlessly grateful”. Which, of course, she should not. This means she has come to expect criticism, especially on social media – she cannot escape it.

To make matters worse, the racist comments have become “noticeably worse and more frequent”.

She said:

I think people are braver and just think they can say whatever they want. The world feels like it’s on fire at the moment. It’s hideous what’s happening right now, and it feels like no amount of speaking out is doing anything. But I think we must not forget that even one voice is better than no voice at all.

It took Nadiya a long time to realise she was good at what she does – and actively silenced herself in the process of realising that. She believes:

I get paid less to do the same job as the white version of me.

Nadiya Hussain has talked at length about the racism, her mental health, and the trauma she experienced in childhood, but she told the Guardian:

One thing I’ve learned in the last year is that it’s really important to always speak your truth.

Featured image via Loose Women/YouTube