Nadiya Hussain: Racism in TV Industry Exposed

Nadiya Hussain has claimed that she is a victim of racism in the 'broken' TV industry and that her Muslim faith has 'made people uncomfortable'. 

The TV chef soared to fame in 2015 after she was crowned the winner of The and has since bagged herself a number of television shows with the including Nadiya's Asian Odyssey, Nadiya's Cook Once Eat Twice and Nadiya's Time to Eat.

However, back in June the star took to Instagram as she shared that the BBC had decided to no longer commission her shows. 

And now, over six months later, Nadiya has left no holds barred as she spoke out about racism in the industry, saying: 'I get paid less to do the same job as the white version of me.' 

She added: 'I actively silenced myself because everything felt like an opportunity. It never felt as if I could just own it and say: "You know what, I’m actually good at this." I think at the point where I realised I was, the show got cancelled, and I was like, I have zero control over this situation.

Addressing how hard it has been to be the only Muslim woman in a room, she told The Guardian: 'people always ask me: "Are we doing better? Has it changed?" It’s broken. This last year has been really important for me to realise that, really accept that, actually, I can’t fix a broken industry.'

After her shows were axed by the BBC, Nadiya has used the opportunity to reflect on what she wants the next 10 years of her life to look like professionally. 

Launched into the limelight via a reality TV show, she has come to realise that she was never in control of her career. 

'I started to feel like a caricature of myself. I’d become a version of myself that was manufactured and comfortable for everybody. I’d become this palatable version of a Muslim that could be on television, that could write cookbooks.'

Last year Nadiya published her latest cookbook, Rooza, which was inspired by dishes from across the Muslim world. 

While she admitted she has no evidence that Rooza was the reason some brands no longer wanted to work with her, deep down she felt it couldn't be a coincidence that once she brought out a piece of work that was more centred on being Muslim, she wasn't as appealing for brands to work with. 

Nadiya remarked that while before her cookbooks had been marketed at everybody, this one didn't feel as inclusive and she believes it made people feel 'uncomfortable'. 

Wanting to now be the most authentic version of herself, Nadiya has questioned changes she subconsciously made in order to fit in to the industry. 

She shared that she even changed the way she wore her headscarf, wrapping only her hair rather than her hair and neck, as it looked more modern. 

After leaving her manager and agent in the summer, Nadiya wants to focus on doing something herself, even if that means working on a smaller scale. 

The star hopes to continue publishing books, including something for children. 

The mother-of-three, who has a degree in childhood and youth studies, recently revealed she had started working as a teaching assistant in a primary school. 

However sadly she had to quit after three months ' because it 'played havoc with her health', as she made the heartbreaking revelation on her Instagram in an emotional post.