Hello, it's Manvine here. We thought you might enjoy a weekend treat with another of the podcasts from the stable here at the Times, and this one is a humdinger.

Let me introduce you to Past Imperfect, a podcast that asks, can early trauma shape future success?

Throughout the series, Times colonists Rachel Silvestre and Alice Thompson talk to extraordinary people about traumatic events in their early life,

and the effect they've had on their identities, their careers, and their drive to succeed.

This week, Great British Bake Off-Star Nadia Hussein describes the impact of winning the show back in 2015,

and how the abuse that she suffered as a child has inspired her to be a force for change.

You're listening to Past Imperfect. Please be advised that in this episode, there are descriptive discussions about suicide, racism, and sexual abuse.

Hello and welcome to Past Imperfect. I'm Alice Thompson, and I'm Rachel Silvestre, and we're talking to exceptional people who overcome trauma or adversity to achieve great success.

Our guest today is a chef who rose to fame after winning the Great British Bake Off.

Nadia Hussein was immediately hailed as a role model for modern Britain, a young hijab wearing Muslim who grew up one of six children in a working class,

Bangladeshi community in Luton, and had an arranged marriage at the age of 20.

She has millions of fans called Nadiators, and has presented her own television shows, published several books, and baked the Queen's 90th birthday cake.

But like many of us, she has struggled with insecurity all her life, which may be why her rousing speech at the end of Bake Off struck such a chord with viewers.

She said, I'm never going to put boundaries on myself ever again, I'm never going to say I can't do it, I'm never going to say maybe, I'm never going to say I don't think I can, I can, and I will.

Nadia Hussein, thank you very much for joining us on Past Imperfect.

We wanted to know whether you still felt that same sense of confidence that came across so powerful at the end of Bake Off,

or do you feel that the boundaries are starting to creep up again now that we've had COVID and lockdowns?

I think when you read that back, I do find my, it feels really weird that that was ever, I mean that was five and a half, nearly five and a half years ago.

So I can only equate it to a situation like you only have a child and that rush of emotions that you have when you have that child and you hold them in your arms.

And I know it seems like such a dramatic comparison to make, but everything that you feel in that moment, when I'm shouting at that same 14 year old and saying, just listen to me just once, I don't feel that rush of emotion at that time.

So, you know, it's just in that moment, I remember just being completely dumbfounded and I was completely petrified at the same time.

And those words that came out of my mouth were a mixture of emotions and feelings and sentiment that I had gathered up over 10 weeks because for me doing the biggest baking show in the country was never about a career.

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