"over the course of two years, I've been quite unwell."
In an emotional video, a tearful Nadiya Hussain shared a shock health diagnosis.
The chef, who won The Great British Bake Off in 2015, revealed she has been diagnosed with two autoimmune diseases after two years of health worries.
Nadiya did not explain the extent of the conditions but urged others to look after their health.
In an Instagram video, she 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.”
“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.”
Nadiya said that when she does take time to do other things, it is because she is “running errands” or “helping” others, something she still feels “really guilty about”.
She admitted that she has been thinking more about her health as she turns 40 in December 2024.
Nadiya continued: “But recently, mostly this year, but over the course of two years, I’ve been quite unwell.
“I’ve just been getting quite sick.
“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.”
Urging her followers to take care of themselves, Nadiya 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.”
Nadiya Hussain confessed that 2024 has “been a really tough year because of all the tests and trying to work stuff out and getting my head around things”.
She said: “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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Explaining that her takeaway is to “listen to your body”, Nadiya Hussain added:
“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.”