"The plan is to gain some training"
Nadiya Hussain revealed a major career change after being dropped by the BBC.
The 41-year-old became a household name after winning the sixth series of The Great British Bake Off in 2015.
Her victory launched a decade-long relationship with the broadcaster, where she fronted several popular cookery programmes, including Nadiya’s British Food Adventure and Nadiya’s Everyday Baking.
However, her shows were axed in 2025.
Nadiya later revealed she had not been given a “definitive” reason for the decision.
She said she still “has no idea” why her programmes were not recommissioned. Instead, she has turned her focus to teaching.
Nadiya told Woman and Home: “I’m currently working as a teaching assistant at a lovely little primary school.
“The plan is to gain some training and maybe in the future become a teacher.”
For the role, Nadiya went through a standard recruitment process:
“I had to do an application form, an interview, go in and sit in with the kids, and see how they reacted to me.
“I did get people ringing me, asking, ‘Sorry, is this actually the Nadiya Hussain?’ and I’m like, ‘Yes, it is and I am looking for a job, and I would like an opportunity’.”
Her career shift has drawn mixed reactions from those around her.
Nadiya admitted: “There have been lots of tears, sadness and judgment.
“People [close to me] have asked, ‘Why would you go from being here, right at the top to being at the bottom?’ but I don’t see it that way.
“Just because I’m famous doesn’t mean I’m at the top. I have been at my lowest at the top.
“So what does being at the top really mean? Since working at the school, I’ve had some of my highest moments.”
Nadiya Hussain is yet to receive what she described as “closure” from the BBC regarding the cancellation of her shows.
She said: “I appreciate that it’s an industry, it’s a business and it’s about making money, but I still don’t know [why they’ve let me go] because I haven’t had a conversation with anyone.
“There are no answers, no closure.”
At the time her programmes were axed, Hussain suggested she may no longer have fit within what she described as the corporation’s “very neat box”.
“I can’t see why there’s a reason why my show wasn’t recommissioned”, she told We Need to Talk podcast, adding that she believes she simply “no longer fit that space anymore”.
She added: “To be fair, I’m not comfortable in boxes anyway.
“I prefer a glass ceiling to smash through, thank you very much. But I suppose there’s no space for me and and and I’m kind of alright with that.”
A spokesperson for the BBC previously addressed the decision.
“After several wonderful series, we have made the difficult decision not to commission another cookery show with Nadiya Hussain at the moment.”
They added that Hussain remains “a much-valued part of the BBC family”.
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