Nadiya Hussain responds to critics

[PruthePrune]

Nadiya Hussain responds to critics

I can understand her being upset that her shows have been axed, apparently ratings were falling, However, I find it hugely disappointing that she has brought race/religion into it. No one is entitled to a BBC show and I think she has had a bloody good run. AIBU?

I agree. I listened to what she said and I came to the same conclusion as you. It came up on my insta feed.

She literally explains the exact sentiment yet the point flies over some people’s head. Those who know, have experienced this, know exactly what she means.

She mentions unfairness in some of the articles, I think @Puzzledandpissedoff has copied one above

It’s ok she can do Strictly. I think her outburst is more to do with her personality type than anything else . She suffers with anxiety doesn’t she so likely prone to emotional outbursts and also likely to take it personally. I say that as someone who also suffers with anxiety before anyone jumps to criticise me .

I agree. I bought her book. The dishes were not that nice. The kind of stuff that if you'd cooked for your kids since they were born they like because they are used to it ( I have many dishes like this that they refuse to eat in restaurants because it 'doesn't taste right' (because it tastes like its supposed to taste most of the time!))
She shouldn't have to be grateful, and I can understand that if people have said that to her that its irritating but she should be glad she managed to outlast many TV chefs and pragmatic that if ratings for her show were dropping, they were dropping and she isn't entitled to another show just because there aren't many hijab wearing women on telly. That is patronising in itself.

So many people would love to be in her position and to come as far as she has…man, woman, black, white, brown whatever

I for one would be grateful (middle aged white woman)

She was given the show in the first place because she was the perfect poster girl for Islam and multicultural Britain. I'm not saying she didn't deserve it, she's talented, attractive, likeable and a natural in front of the camera. But so are many people who come through Bake Off and they don't get their own show.

She's learning a hard lesson now. When you are suddenly shot to the top it's hard work staying there. Ask just about every X Factor winner. If ratings slacken off you will have to watch your back and have a plan B up your sleeve. She's had a really good run but her honeymoon period is over and she's going to have to start really earning her place on the TV screen now, pitching her shows to smaller channels.

It's also a good idea to not wind people up by using your celebritry to preach to the rest of us about race, politics or religion or your views on anything else that may be divisive.

There are those who will agree with her viewpoint but then there will always be those who don't, and she risks losing support by stepping out of her box and assuming her audience are open to being lectured by her, instead of just watching her cook and look pretty in a range of colourful hijabs and turbans. She's made the mistake of thinking she's a bit more important and influential than she is.

There's already modelling which shows this as already happening, not unlikely to happen.

If you are white British in your 40s now immigration and births will mean your age group will be a minority by 65.
In your 30s it's going to happen sooner and so on.

The change is coming from immigration and births too.

It going to make racism very complicated.

This sums up the general attitude perfectly. “Little brown woman, you must stay in the box that we have so generously given to you.”

I love Nadiya and think she is very talented. She seems to be a really lovely person too. Social media has made it very difficult to sustain a career on TV as a cook/baker/chef. I only really use instagram for recipes and inspiration rather than watching a TV show these days.

Nobody wants to be lectured at by an overreaching TV sleb. See also: Gary Lineker (who also got the axe).

Practicing gratitude is actually very good for anxiety.

Where did you source this, can I ask? I know enough about heterodox social sciences and how they like to deviate from what is “politically correct”, so I’d be interested to look at the research process for these predictions.

“Over the top with her anger”?! I’ve seen Gordon Ramsey routinely get more angry about things as inconsequential as veg not being sliced thin enough. Did anything she said have to get bleeped out? Your entire comment is exactly what she’s referring to. Discourse analysis of the language used about white and non-white individuals in similar scenarios reaps very interesting results. The differences can be subtle but they are there and they’re there to denote that the non-whites (even when they’re being praised) are ultimately not from this country (whether they were born here or not).

She said she was entitled to feel angry and in her past she was told she should be grateful when she had been treated unfairly. But has she been treated unfairly? She won Bakeoff, got several TV shows, and books off the back of it and now ratings are dropping the BBC has axed it. Shes literally been treated the same as hundreds of TV personalities over the years. Has she been told to be grateful because she's brown, or has she been told to be grateful because she has had a long career and lots of opportunities that she would likely not have got if she hadn't gone on Bakeoff? I dont know any other Bakeoff winner or contestant who has done more than a few guest slots on magazine shows apart from her.

100% with you here. But Nadiya is actually only 40, not 46!

She has always seemed nice, but it looks like her mask is slipping now that she's not getting her own way.

Also awaiting with interest to see @pikkumyy77's examples, IcedPurple - especially as it's claimed that the reasons for the axing are misogny/racism

For clarity I haven't the least doubt this happens, but "all the time" does seem a bit of a stretch on the face of it

She is a Human being with feelings she is allowed to be irritated/angry/emotional she doesn't have to be "nice".

This is absolutely correct.

She’s always seemed to have a bit of a chip on her shoulder and been defensive…other Bake off contestants would have loved to been in her situation, she should be grateful

Her husband is very handsome too…stop moaning woman 😅

To be fair to her, I don't doubt she is perfectly nice, but she has just made a silly mean remark about her followers on Instagram and the BBC because she is upset at her show being cancelled. 'Gratitude' is these days related to mindfulness. I doubt her Instagram followers are massive racists ( I think I am one of them, and Indian, although its been a while since I've been on my account)

It's nothing to do with her being brown or a woman at all. It's the fickle nature of sudden celebrity, as hundreds of non-brown men have probably found out before her. It's just that they can't blame their shooting star eventually turning into a damp squib on anything in particular and certainly not on their race or their religion or their sex or the fact that they are from an immigrant background.

It's not exactly "losing a job" though. She would have a contract to produce X number of series and that has now ended, something she knew would happen with no guarantee of renewal. She/her agent should have been looking for her next opportunity - and maybe they have been and all this is just to get some publicity

I’ve never watched her show, although I remember her a bit from bake off or wherever she first turned up. I assume it was popular at first but is now not, so not convinced she’s been treated unfairly.

But in terms of “be grateful” I completely agree that is a phrase aimed at women and POC and it is offensive. A white man in the same situation would have been told “well done for a great ten years” before being asked what he intended to do next. She should be proud of what she achieved, not “grateful”. It’s not like the original show was some kind of charity project, it was put on for ratings.

Where’s your proof to back this statement up?