Millions of viewers across Britain were moved to tears when Nadiya Hussain took the 2015 Great British Bake Off crown and emotionally vowed: "I am never going to put boundaries on myself.... I am never going to say I don't think I can. I can and I will."
It's now been revealed that it was her beloved husband Abdal who gave her the courage to apply. The mum-of-three told the Sun: "My husband tried to get me to apply two years ago and I said, 'I don't have the confidence to do this.
"This year he pretty much forced me and said, 'You're really good, you're really clever, you should just do it, what's the worst that will ever happen?'"
Nadiya, 30, told how she practised each night after their children, two sons and one daughter, aged nine, eight and four, went to bed, sometimes baking until 0200am or 0300am in the morning. While she was competing IT worker Abdal stepped into the breech to run the household, taking over the school run, bedtimes and reading to the youngsters.
Her parents Jamir and Asma Ali moved to Britain from Bangladesh in the Seventies, but the money was so tight they didn't have an oven. Jamir was a waiter in a curry house before finding a job at luxury Champneys Resort. where he still works to this day. The proud father was seen celebrating wildly on TV alongside his son-in-law when Nadiya was declared the winner.
When Abdal and his daughter married in 2003 after a two-year courtship, she moved from her family home in Luton to live with her husband in Leeds. For years she put her own dreams to one side to raise their children but with all of them in school she decided it was her time for "an adventure".
Her witty one-liners and expressive eyebrows have made the mum a national heroine. When she got stressed during the competition Adbdal would tell her: "Get a grip - it's just baking. Get in there and do it."
On Wednesday night, the Twitterverse was in frenzy over his good looks and supportive manner. However, his head is unlikely to be turned. Hearts melted after his wife's victory when he turned to her and whispered: "I'm so proud of you, you are amazing."
