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Nadiya Hussain has revealed she was a victim of sexual abuse as a child.
The Great British Bake Off sexually assaulted by a relative at the age of five while living in Bangladesh .
Hussain said the ordeal left her suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD ), panic attacks and suicidal thoughts.
“No doubt that would have played a role in my PTSD, my panic disorder,” Hussain said in an interview with You magazine,
“It must have done, because it’s a memory that has stayed with me for ever.”
Show all 13 1 /13Meet the new Bake Off contestants Meet the new Bake Off contestants Henry Age: 20
Job: Student
Lives in: Durham
Bio: Henry became interested in all things culinary and baking at the age of 12, as he was intrigued by the Bake Off tent that was pitched up in his local park. He started experimenting in the kitchen and supplied his family, friends and teachers with a variety of bakes. Now studying English literature at Durham University, he enjoys feeding his housemates with his creations.
Baking style: He is fond of elegant bakes composed of delicate and carefully combined flavours.
He says: "I have wanted to get into the tent since series two. They filmed it at the end of my road, so I used to see Paul Hollywood when I walked past the tent to go to school in the mornings, so I really got into it. To be inside the actual tent was totally wonderful."
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Meet the new Bake Off contestants Phil Age: 56
Job: HGV driver
Lives in: Rainham
Bio: This year's oldest competitor, Phil took up baking seriously six years ago, but was always fond of baking bread in his home economics classes in his school days. Regularly baking four or five times a week, he focuses on breads such as focaccia, granary and brioche, but he also likes trying pastry and relishes the challenge of hot-water crust, puff and choux.
Baking style: A fan of breads in particular, he also spends time perfecting the art of decoration and piping, crafting delicately decorated cakes.
He says: "The most surprised [that I am in Bake Off] will be a couple who are long-term friends and they had been staying with us recently and said you make such wonderful cakes, but have never mentioned to me that I should go on Bake Off, so I think they haven't a clue that I would be in it."
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Meet the new Bake Off contestants Rosie Age: 28
Job: Veterinary surgeon
Lives in: Somerset
Bio: Rosie's passion for baking started when she was given a baking book at the age of five, and it has continued into her adult life. When she is not treating sick animals, she can be found baking through the night to unwind and also to keep the practice nurses well-fed. The amateur baker grew up in Oxfordshire and studied at Cambridge, is married to her childhood sweetheart and has many animals, including ducks and chickens.
Baking style: She enjoys patisserie and her baking is inspired by her rural surroundings.
She says: "The nurses at work are going to be so surprised, they will have no idea. They asked me the other day would I apply again and I could honestly and categorically answer, no I don't think I will!"
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Meet the new Bake Off contestants Alice Age: 28
Job: Geography teacher
Lives in: London
Bio: Alice started baking at the age of 15 when a back operation for scoliosis left her unable to do sport. She lived in New Zealand in her early twenties, where she studied art and also perfected the art of a pavlova, before returning to the UK to become a geography teacher. She now uses her cakes in her lessons, demonstrating natural events such as coastal erosion and volcanic activity with her edible creations.
Baking style: She is keen on intricate and delicate bakes, full of flavour and enthusiasm and aiming to impress.
She says: "I have wanted to be in Bake Off ever since the show has started, but I wasn't really good enough when I was 18. To be on such a big show doing something that you are passionate about is a huge thing. I also felt that to be accepted into the tent gave me the confidence to feel that I could bake. It was a dream come true!"
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Meet the new Bake Off contestants Michael Age: 26
Job: Theatre manager and fitness instructor
Lives in: Stratford-upon-Avon
Bio: Michael was taught to bake by his mother using old, handwritten recipes passed down from her grandparents. Born in Newcastle, he was raised in Scone in Scotland from the age of seven and later studied in Edinburgh, and he considers himself Scottish. He currently works as a manager at a theatre company in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Baking style: He is inspired by the flavours of his Indian heritage and, although he has attempted nearly every discipline in baking, his strengths are in cakes and pastry.
He says: "This was the very first time that I applied, one night I applied as I was a bit bored, I never thought I would get to the audition process. So when I found out it was a mixture of shock and blind panic!"
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Meet the new Bake Off contestants Priya Age: 34
Job: Marketing consultant
Lives in: Leicester
Bio: Priya, a self-professed perfectionist, started to take baking seriously 10 years ago as a means to relax, but her first foray into baking was in her youth at a baking club at primary school. A wedding present of a stand mixer seven years ago only boosted her passion even more, and she is known to toil for hours into the night baking bread and also for delivering bags of tasty treats to friends and family. She lives in Leicester with her husband and their two children.
Baking style: Priya has recently started experimenting with vegan bakes.
She says: "I downloaded the application for Bake Off in 2012 the year I got married but I thought I would never get in. I applied again last year, and then this year I got in and it was so dreamy and unreal. I was in no doubt it would change my life. And it taught me to pursue the things you love, and you just have to go for it."
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Meet the new Bake Off contestants Helena Age: 40
Job: Online project manager
Lives in: Leeds
Bio: Helena's introduction to baking came at a young age as she watched her Spanish grandmother in the kitchen, but it was moving to Las Vegas and living with a Mormon family for a school exchange trip that prompted her to start baking herself. Born in Ceuta – an autonomous Spanish city on the north coast of Africa – Helen was raised in Lanzarote and studied in mainland Spain, but now lives in Leeds with her husband and baby daughter. Baking style: A fan of using American flavours such as pumpkin, pecans and maple, Helena also enjoys using Spanish flavours and is often inspired by Halloween in her bakes.
She says: "I won a baking competition at work and that gave me the confidence to apply. Although when I learned that I had got in I had a bit of a confidence crisis thinking, can I possibly be good enough?"
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Meet the new Bake Off contestants David Age: 36
Job: International health adviser
Lives in: London
Bio: Having grown up in rural Yorkshire with a mother who would always bake and refuse to buy a loaf from the shops, Dan was inspired to bake as a child. He became further interested in the art of baking after travelling to Malawi with his job as a health adviser, where he learnt to build an oven out of an oil drum and invented a cake that could steam cook over a village fire. He studied art and design before switching to nursing, and enjoys cycling and ceramics.
Baking style: His strengths lie in baking bread and he prefers robust flavours and solid bakes to fancy, colourful icings.
He says: "I have watched Bake Off from the start, and I have daydreamed so many times walking to work about being in it for such a long time. And when I got accepted it was such a mixture of emotions. Then I thought this is really crazy, am I good enough, will I have enough time to practice?"
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Meet the new Bake Off contestants Michelle Age: 35
Job: Print shop administrator
Lives in: Tenby, Wales
Bio: Michelle, who grew up on a farm, has been a lover of baking since she was a child, watching her mother whip up traditional bakes. She now bakes almost every other day, whether it is a loaf of bread or a dessert for her husband and teenage son.
Baking style: Experimental flavour combinations are key, as well as the inclusion of seasonable vegetables and local produce, with a precise and finessed edge.
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Meet the new Bake Off contestants Amelia Age: 24
Job: Fashion designer
Lives in: London
Bio: Born to a Caribbean father and a half-British/half-Polish mother, Amelia has been baking for 19 years after watching her mother and grandmother creating beautiful cake decorations as a child. She grew up in Halifax and studied in Leeds and Leicester, and honed her baking skills while at university, baking for friends and college fundraising events. She currently lives in London and works as a sportswear designer.
Baking style: Inspired by her northern roots, she believes that freshly farmed produce is essential for a satisfying bake.
She says: "I have wanted to get into the tent since series one. It's still not sunk in, but it's a dream come true."
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Meet the new Bake Off contestants Jamie Age: 20
Job: Part-time waiter
Lives in: Surrey
Bio: Jamie was taught the basics by his grandmother and his parents, but it was after watching an episode of Bake Off and being inspired to make a plaited loaf that really saw his baking passion take hold. He was born and raised in Surrey with his identical twin and currently has a job as a part-time waiter before studying sports science at university.
Baking style: He is not afraid to tackle more technically challenging bakes such as croquembouches and croissants, but has a fairly traditional approach to flavours.
He says: "When they called to tell me it was a real shock, I really wasn't expecting it at all. But a nice shock. All my mates don't even know that I bake so they will get a shock to see me in an apron!"
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Meet the new Bake Off contestants Dan Age: 32
Job: Support worker
Lives in: Rotherham
Bio: Dan says he is largely a self-taught baker, but has memories of watching his mother bake a Victoria sponge as a child and his Army chef father coming to his school to teach how to bake and plait bread. He became serious about baking at the age of 21 while trying to impress his girlfriend Laura, who is now his wife, with a themed birthday cake. Dan, who lives with Laura and their three dogs, even made their wedding cake.
Baking style: He is a fan of the decorating process and he loves to produce awe-inspiring bakes.
He says: "I have been trying for a few years now, so finally I am here. It's absolutely crazy, really amazing, I was so adamant to get on, it's very hard to describe the feelings, all strange and surreal. And then when you are in the tent it all feels normal pretty quickly."
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Meet the new Bake Off contestants Steph Age: 28
Job: Shop assistant
Lives in: Chester
Bio: Steph took up baking when her grandfather inspired her thanks to his love of homemade bread. Although it has long been a hobby of hers, she really became serious around three years ago and is largely self-taught. She lives in Chester with her mother, and her passion for sports and wellness inspires her in the kitchen as she enjoys making healthier bakes, adding vegetables and fruit and lowering the refined sugar content and upping nutritional fats.
Baking style: She is particularly fond of biscuits, but her signature bake is a sourdough load using her starter, affectionately called Sammy.
She says: "It's a bit like a lottery, it wasn't really joined up thinking, I didn't think that I would get in, I wanted to give it a go. It's just beyond anything that I can imagine, because I didn't really dream that I would get in, it has been the most incredible surreal experience."
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The 34-year-old, who details the abuse in her forthcoming memoir Finding My Voice , said she only fully understood what had happened during a sex education class at school.
Hussian said the realisation made her throw up in a sink in the science laboratory.
“I’ve only told my sisters recently and, growing up, I had a close friend at school who I told. It turned out a very similar thing had happened to her,” Hussain said.
“It’s important to talk about it because it probably happens much more than we care to talk about.
“If that happened to my children, I don’t even want to say what I would do… I have no words.”
The baker added that her husband, Abdal, guaged her state of mind by looking at the colour of the headscarf she was wearing.
“Abdal calls them the mood scarves,” Hussain said.
“So if I wear black he knows I’m probably not having a very good day, but if I’m wearing something a little bit colourful he’s like, ‘Oh, are you all right today?”
Hussain previously revealed she had her first panic attack at 11-years-old when school bullies dunked her head in the toilet.
Speaking on Loose Women
“Every time I go to the toilet, and I’m 34-years-old, I cannot take that image out of my head,” Hussain said.
“That image is always in my head. I’ve tried for years to get rid of it but I can’t. That was when I first had a panic attack – when my head was flushed down the toilet.”
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