Why Nadiya Hussain's Great British Baking Show Win Was So Emotional

When Nadiya Hussain won The Great British Bake Off, in the words of the Radio Times, "She became a household name when she reduced Mary Berry – and millions of viewers – to tears." The crux of her speech, to which you can listen on YouTube, was that no longer would she set boundaries around what she could accomplish.

This reflected a new attitude towards her mental health issues which she opened about further as she appeared more and more in interviews. "Suffering with mental health and suffering racism is quite isolating," she explained to the Radio Times, "and to be able to share that is therapy for me as much as it is for other people."

What was touching for so many people about Hussain's victory was, as Merry Berry described in a bit quoted by Metro, that during the course of the competition a baker who was very nervous and self-restricted but determined managed to overcome her anxiety and shine.

Nadiya Hussain followed her victory in the Great British Baking Show to present a documentary about her therapy titled Nadiya: Anxiety and Me. Talking with the BBC, Hussain explained that a driving force behind its creation was her feeling that the silence surrounding mental illnesses proves one of the biggest hurdles for people who suffer from them. So, by sharing, she healed her own breaks as well as widened the dialogue that surrounds the topic.

Later, the BBC reported that her open depiction of what it is like to suffer anxiety received praise from the general viewership. "In a world where nearly nine in 10 people with mental health problems say stigma and discrimination have a negative effect on their lives, honesty like Nadiya's feels like something we all need," a HuffPost review stated. This sharing has continued even during the times of the pandemic, as the BBC also reported. She has told her followers about her struggles to get out of bed and that it is ok "to be kind to ourselves" and not strive for productivity all of the time.

So the emotions that connected millions of people to Hussain after her Bake Off victory have continued beyond the series finale.