Nadiya Hussain responds to critics

Either you didn’t actually listen to what she said or you are misinterpreting what she said; deliberately or otherwise.

It’s a long time for a fickle business. Sure there’ll be the normal reaction but it will be for everyone. Perhaps they all feel crest fallen when the ride is over. It’s just show biz

So it’s ok for Nadia to feel offended but not for others?

Totally double standards.

So the issue is a culture clash rather than racism?
It’s perfectly acceptable in British culture to tell someone, who’s had a cushy ride come to an end, to be just grateful that they had the opportunity.

She was replying to mail and comments she’d received since her time with the BBC came to an end.

All good things come to an end, better to bow out with good grace. 10 years is a lot more than a lot of cooks get.

There's so much here that I cbf to unpick it all — and frankly cbf to educate anyone on their own history they don't even know — so I think this will be my last reply.

Firstly, Brits know so ridiculously little about how utterly disgusting colonialism was — really shocking to me as we studied it to a great extent in school; it's like US states that don't teach about their own slavery and genocide, or Germans only learning about how the Third Reich provided incredible sanitisation and medical advances (which is true) — that ridiculously enough they feel self congratulatory about it, and they genuinely think they offered "safe haven" to many of their victims.

Secondly, are you saying the US offered you safe haven from your terrifying and inferior life in the UK? Because I've already said I'm not a refugee/immigrant in the UK — my country is better than the UK on many / most fronts, and I'm just here for an interesting experience and a paycheck. Of course I'm grateful for the nice people and things I've encountered here but just in a general life sense, not in any civic sense.

Or, if you're talking about Nadiya having to be grateful, when does it end for non white people? Because many non whites have been here for generations and generations, more than some white Brits, but the message that they are ultimately mere grateful guests lasts forever.

The fact that they are not celebrity status renders then unknown and random, the person being white is also pertinent to the point I was making. But, sure, the two of you go ahead and feel free to be offended🙄

I've watched her video and she articulates very well how being told to "be grateful" lands differently for her than it might for a white person, due to her and her parents' experiences as an immigrant family. I think she has every right to express this. It wouldn't "put me off" watching her shows -quite the opposite. Her public persona is almost overwhelmingly sweet and inoffensive/boring.

It may sound rude but it’s also a fact, so it is what it is. My view on the status of people on tv has nothing at all to do with this thread; who cares if they impress me or not? Clearly, the gist of this discussion has eluded you; which, at this point, I find baffling.

If I had a £1m a year job for doing something I found easy, and was made redundant after 10 years, I certainly wouldn’t expect people to feel sorry for me. I’d be gutted that the ride was over, but grateful I’d had the chance to experience it for so long.

This has F all about race, and more about the fact she’s made a shit ton of money doing something relatively easy, that most people don’t make £100 off, let alone what she’s earned.

I just don't enjoy her as a presenter, perhaps others feel the same?

'I am a firm believer that nothing is forever '

Oh dear how very embarrassing.

I think cooking shows have to something extra like this to make them interesting these days. A competition, a 'reality show' element, or exotic locations. The 'stand and stir' genre is out of time.

Well, what d’ya know…

Until we stop making EVERYTHING about race, we'll never live side by side in beautiful harmony.

I read the news stuff about this. I agree with the sentiment that people say she should be grateful because she's had great opportunities handed to her on the back of GBBO.

All I can see is escalating strife.

.

Buy why shouldn’t a country expect a sense of gratitude when it has opened it arms out to you and given you a safe haven? I think this is part of the issue- people are going to split on this. You are always going to take the view that no gratitude is going to be expected and other people are going to take the view that people should be thankful.

i am a 3rd generation descendant of immigrants myself btw. And I am eternally grateful for the fact that the Uk gave my ancestors safe haven. I wouldn’t have been born otherwise

AI overview
It's difficult to pinpoint the exact number of nationalities living in the UK, as "nationality" can refer to citizenship or a sense of national identity. However, the 2021 Census for England and Wales showed that over 9.7% of the population identified with a non-UK national identity, which equates to roughly 5.8 million people. Additionally, around 2.0% of the population identified with both a UK and a non-UK national identity.
Here's a more detailed breakdown:
Non-UK National Identity:
In 2021, over 5.8 million people in England and Wales identified with a non-UK national identity, according to the census.
Common Non-UK Nationalities:
The most common non-UK national identities reported were Polish (0.9 million), Romanian (0.5 million), Indian (0.4 million), and Irish (0.3 million).
Multiple Nationalities:
British nationality law allows for dual citizenship, meaning many individuals may hold both British and another nationality.
Foreign-born Population:
In 2021, around 16% of the UK population (approximately 10.7 million people) were born abroad.
Ethnic Groups:
The UK census also collects data on ethnic groups, with a wide range of categories used to capture the diversity of the population.
Therefore, while the exact number of nationalities is hard to define, it's clear that the UK is a very diverse nation with a large population of people from various backgrounds and with a wide range of national identities.

I wonder how unpleasant its going to become here as this change continues when all the grievances continue to multiply.

It's quite a scary thought.

Exactly! Who else gets 10 years of their own TV show? 🤷🏼‍♀️ Some people on here are desperate to flagellate themselves and others at the altar of perceived racism

The chosen diction is what proves it. This is the first thread I’ve ever commented on. Why? Because I studied the subject of discourse and race at postgraduate level and it grinds my gears when people with no knowledge of the subject and who haven’t grown up being routinely subjected to racist behaviour/language/experiences like to huff and puff and tell those of us who have, that we’re getting worked up over nothing. Tell me you’re white without telling me you’re white.

Knew there would be one. I absolutely was expecting this when I posted 🙄

You know very well that a general sense of gratitude for interest opportunities is not the same as the sort of gratitude demanded of refugees, immigrants (the immigrant vs expat terminology is interestingly arbitrary).

You know very well that how you were perceived as a Brit on a USA jaunt was different from how an Mexican or Indian or even 4th generation Black or Asian American person in the US would be perceived. Not just by overtly racist people but very nice people whose beliefs deep deep down are revealed when push comes to shove.

But isn’t the point that people are saying she should be grateful not because of her ethnicity but simply because she has an amazing opportunity that people would give their right arm for.

@Extravirginolive Sorry I genuinely can't make sense of anything you've said. I certainly don't think she's anything other than British, but her own valid point is that lots of people don't feel the same, even if it's deep deep down. Lots of people have internalised racism — even subtly, ie look all inclusive and lovely at first, but they get offended and start demanding "gratitude" if a non white person is deemed to not have the appropriate attitude about this country.