Nadiya Hussain: Why my marriage works

FORMER Bake Off star Nadiya Hussain has opened up about her arranged marriage — saying that expecting 50:50 from both partners leads to ‘failure’.

The TV presenter and former Great British Bake Off winner married her hubby Abdal at the tender age of 19 and they are still going strong three kids later — but she is the first to admit: ‘Somebody always puts in more than somebody else.’

She told The Sunday Times: ‘The second you think a marriage is 50:50, that’s when failure happens.

‘There are times when I’ve had to put in 95 per cent and my husband has had to put in 5 per cent because he’s got a career and travelling and things to do. Then it evens out.’

But now Nadiya’s career has taken off and she is one of the 500 most influential people in the UK, according to etiquette arbiters Debrett’s, the pendulum has swung the other way, she admits.

‘Right now, it’s 60:40. He is at home a lot more than I am. I don’t really feel like I’m doing much at all,’ she said.

While we doubt that’s true — given that she’s keeping busy with her cookery show, writing kids’ books and Loose Women appearances — it’s a far cry from how she used to talk about her arranged marriage.

She has previously described her wedding day as one of the ‘worst’ of her life, saying: ‘I was an emotional wreck and I cried through the whole thing.’

But more recently Nadiyah said she wanted to renew her vows as: ‘I actually quite like my husband now.’

Author: Anna Thomson