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 mean she has a point she has had awful comments suggesting she should "know her place" place as a brown woman she should be grateful for opportunity, good for her for speaking up about this.

Yes, I thought she should have focused on the baking more, that was her forte.

Yes, and she’s saying that she should be allowed to be sad about that without having to always counter it by saying she is grateful to have had it.

I like Nadiyah and she’s expressed herself well imo. It’s not something I’ve thought about before as I don’t encounter it, but it makes sense to me.

I don't now the ins and outs of tv ratings or the ending of her show, but when you are from a different race or disabled, expectations of constant continuing gratitude do take on a completely different meaning and are part of ensuring hierarchical attitudes to individual worth continue via the back door.

These day's it seems to be being also extended to those living in social housing or who have to claim any sort of benefits, no matter what conditions they are in or are imposed on them.

Of course people are grateful for small mercies, but they shouldn't have to be eternally grateful for what the majority expect to take for granted, especially when they have worked doubly hard for them.

I saw that video and don't think she's saying her show shouldn't have been axed, she's saying she's allowed not to be 'grateful' all the time and be a nuanced human, as everyone else is

Yes, I think that's fine. She's understandably upset.

She says in one quote she felt she was unfairly treated. I don’t think she was in terms of axing a show. Was she?

Me too. It would be a good diversification.

I've never before heard a TV star being expected to be grateful for being given shows. Race related or not it's an odd expression to use.

Like most ethnic minority brands have to be to make it on TV in this country. Once we step out of line, there’s backlash.

It’s a problem.

Same.
Always comes across as friendly and has easy to understand recipes, just lovely food instead of fancy bollocks 😁
I also watched her programme Anxiety and Me which could relate to so much.
Might have to rewatch some of her family recipes on iPlayer if they're still there and get some summer lunch inspiration!

Yes, I think it’s the general sentiment of such patronising comments that have ‘triggered’ her for want of a better word. As the child of immigrant brown parents myself who has been the target of direct discrimination and continuing unconscious bias, it’s difficult enough with all the other life things one has to deal with so I can empathise why she perhaps feels as she does.

she did do well, she won us over winning bake off, not all bake off winners get a tv programme
it is an embarrassment for her to lose her tv show understandably

I don’t know if some of you are intentionally missing the point or genuinely don’t see it. It’s not about her show being axed - she’s allowed to be upset about it (as anyone would if they had been sacked from work), but that’s not where the race conversation came from. That was clear in Nadiya’s response, in the OP and in several replies that followed. Why are so many of you talking about the “good run” she had? That’s not the topic of discussion. At all.

i admit i didnt watch her response to critics and am not commenting about that

This is just the way with TV chefs. They’re huge and then they’re not.
When I was a kid, Gary Rhodes was on EVERYTHING.
There are very, very few who manage to stay at the forefront and that’s usually because they do other things to bring them to the national conscious away from cooking. Food is a fashion and it moves on like fashion icons do.
If it was a race/ religion thing, she wouldn’t have been given the tv shows and book deals in the first place.

I mean who else of Bake Off has had her longevity? I’m surprised it’s lasted this long.

They probably wouldn't use that word if Mary Berry or Holly Willoughby were fired.

HW should defo be grateful for such a long run, she isn't very good!

Have you seen what people say about Holly Willoughby? There are a LOT of comments saying she should be grateful as she got her career thanks to her producer husband. I can’t comment on Nadiya as I don’t care for cookery programmes or books so I’m not familiar with her work (don’t watch Bake Off), but people are often attacking Holly these days.

I am assuming the comments were also about her culture a Muslim woman being "allowed" ? I don't know i am a white woman it is just how i read it.

As I understand it, she’s not objecting to her shows being cancelled, she’s objecting to the language and expectations around this being different. It makes uncomfortable hearing because it highlights the insidious racism that’s still very much in existence, but that doesn’t mean she is wrong or unreasonable for highlighting it, quite the opposite. A previous poster commented that by speaking out she’s probably damaged chances of further opportunities. She’s an intelligent woman, she almost certainly knows this but has chosen to speak out anyway knowing that she has a platform from which she can try to influence things for the better. That’s not stupid, it’s brave.

Do you think Nadiya stepped out of line?

I think she’s had a good run. I can’t even remember any of the other bake off winners although a runner up has a bakery near me which is really nice but £££s I’ve got her rubs for chicken as flavoursome but not spicy (dc).

I don’t think she needs to show gratitude but it’s a bit like any employer when your fixed contract job comes to an end. Utterly gutting when they don’t renew but game face on.

The problem with publicly having a go at your former employer is you burn bridges. Loads of people seem to pop back up on bbc.

Media and fame is incredibly fickle & anyone who makes a career off a reality show is lucky .

She's allowed to feel how she feels though.

Good on her for calling out the inherent racism in the "you should be grateful" comments.
Unconscious bias should be called out and put into the open for all to see and understand. It's the only hope of shifting the dial.
Did those people think they were being racist? No, of course not. They thought they were helping.