Bake Off star Nadiya Hussain shares shock diagnosis in emotional video message to fans

8 October 2024, 09:19 | Updated: 8 October 2024, 10:21

Nadiya Hussain has shared some shock health news with fans in an emotional video message.

The Great British Bake Off winner said doctors had found that she had two autoimmune diseases after two years of health concerns.

Hussain, who won the 2015 edition of the show, urged her 900,000 Instagram followers to look after their health and take time to relax, saying she was a person "who burns the candle at both ends".

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She did not explain her health conditions in more detail, saying that she might be able to reveal more at a later date.

Hussain, 39, said: "I cannot express enough the importance of taking care of yourself. I am the kind of person who burns the candle at both ends, takes care of everyone else's needs but my own."

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"I don't take time out for myself. I don't really know what that means or what that feels like. Not really.

"And when I do take time for myself, I feel incredibly guilty."

Hussain said that when she does take time to do other things it's because she is "running errands" or "helping" others.

But she says she still feels "really guilty about that."

Hussain said her "alone time, me time, keep my mind and body healthy time is very, very minimal", which is "really bad."

She said she had been thinking more about her health as she turns 40 this year.

"But recently, mostly this year, but over the course of two years, I've been quite unwell," she added. "I've just been getting quite sick."

She said: "And over the course of the two years, I've been diagnosed with two autoimmune diseases, which I'm not going to go into now.

"I will go into in the future when I know more about it and when I have a better handle on it and when I understand it a little bit better.

"But till then, like I cannot express, like I cannot express the importance of listening to your body, of taking care of yourself.

Hussain added: 'I'm the worst at that. I'm not very good at it at all. I will only ever take care of myself when my body's in shutdown.'

"And that's not good for you. We need to take more care of ourselves.

"We need to take more time in our care and our well-being, mental and physical.

She said that it's "been a really tough year because of all the tests and trying to work stuff out and getting my head around things.

"But I feel like it's really important to come out the other side and... really be grateful for and feel blessed that although, you know, it'd be great not to be sick, I'm here."

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She said that her health is "really what matters" and she needs to do "all the things that I can to positively impact myself mentally and physically. And that's all I can really do."

Hussain said that her takeaway was to "listen to your body."

"And I really want to come on here and share that with you guys, because I think we don't say that to each other enough.

"And I certainly don't. I think mums don't say it to each other. I think women mums just are not very good at it. And I know the mums that I know are not very good at it either.

"So take care of yourself. Listen to your body. Listen to your instincts and press push. If there's something not right, press push. Make sure you get to the bottom of it.

"And I don't think I would have got to the bottom of it if I hadn't pressed and pushed because I could feel that there was something wrong.

"So... follow your instincts and know that what you're feeling is not in your head. And you're probably very well right.

"So just trust your own instincts and take care of yourselves."