Great British Bake Off Star Nadiya Hussain reveals she was sexually abused at the age of five by family member
GREAT British Bake-Off winner Nadiya Hussain has told how she was sexually assaulted by a relative when she was just five years old.
The 34-year-old said her horrific ordeal "stayed with me for ever" and contributed to a suicide attempt leaving her with PTSD.
Nadiya writes about the Bangladesh attack in her forthcoming memoir, Finding My Voice.
In an interview with the You magazine, the chef said: "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.
"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."
During the interview, Nadiya also reveals how she was bullied at school for being "too dark".
And when she first heard the word suicide, aged ten, she thought it could be a "bus ticket".
She explained: "I can only equate it to a feeling similar to being able to buy a bus ticket.
"It was, like, 'What? I can buy this ticket and I can just go and I'd never get bullied again?'"
BULLIED
She told the publication how she tried to overdose on tablets but was interrupted by the news that her mother was pregnant with her brother. She then decided to live on for her sibling's sake.
The star shot to fame when she won The Great British Bake Off back in 2015, carving a lucrative career for herself through other foodie TV shows and her popular cookery books.
She was the sixth champion to have won the hit show.
most read in news
During the final, she baked 16 iced buns, a raspberry-flavoured mille-feuille, and a multi-layered cake called "My Big Fat British Wedding Cake".
During her acceptance speech, she said: "I'm never gonna put boundaries on myself ever again. I'm never gonna say I can't do it.
"I'm never gonna say 'maybe'. I'm never gonna say, 'I don't think I can.' I can and I will."
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368 . You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.