Nadiya Hussain must have felt a wave of relief when she was named this year's Great British Bake Off winner – and not just for taking the baking crown, but for finally being able to shout it to the roof that she had won.
The stay-at-home mum had to go to extreme lengths to keep her triumph a secret, since June.
"We were in the process of selling our house, so we had people coming in and out," Nadiya told Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning. "So what we did, we wrapped the trophy in newspapers and did the Russian Doll thing with suitcases! So it was inside five suitcases under my bed so that nobody saw it!"
© Photo: Rex"We wrapped the trophy in newspapers and did the Russian Doll thing with suitcases!" said Nadiya Hussain
Nadiya also had to explain to her three children that her win was a top secret. "I have created some compulsive liars!" she laughed. "Now I'm having to train them and say 'we don't lie anymore'... so we're kind of working on that one now."
During the TV appearance, the Bangladeshi star was also reunited with the woman who inspired her to start baking, her home economics teacher Mrs Marshall.
"We never baked in our family, dessert isn't something that we ever had, and not something that's common in our culture so we never had desserts," said Nadiya. "It was only when I did food studies for GCSEs that I started baking… and the whole process, I just got hooked.
"And during lunch breaks, rather than having my lunch in the lunch hall, I used to go in and watch her prepare for her class. I would sit and watch her and. I learnt off her. I hope she is [proud]."
© Photo: RexNadiya's home economics teacher Mrs Marshall, who inspired her, made a surprise appearance on TV
Mrs Marshall then came out to surprise her star student, and said: "It's absolutely amazing and yes, I am so proud, and delighted, and thrilled. All those things. She was good at following instructions which is quite important, and the skills she showed…"
"This is bizarre, but this is fantastic," said Nadiya, facing her old teacher. "It was you that planted that seed and said 'you know what, you're actually really good at this' and the only time I baked was with Mrs Marshall at school, I never did it at home."
The GBBO winner also admitted that it was her "dreamboat" husband Abdal who convinced her to join Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry's popular show. When asked about her husband becoming a Twitter heart-throb, she laughed, saying: "I win the Bake Off and he gets all the glory for being a hunk!"
