Here’s some wonderful news to cap off a difficult week: Nadiya Hussain, winner of the 2015 season of reality baking competition The Great British Bake Off, is getting her very own show. The BBC announced on Thursday that Hussain will star in an eight-part BBC Two series, Nadiya’s British Food Adventure, that follows her on a road trip around Britain to learn about different regional culinary specialties.
A largely self-taught baker known for her animated facial expressions and good humor, Hussain was a favorite on her season of Bake Off, finally winning for her iced buns, raspberry millefeuille, and a gorgeous wedding cake. Her victory was an especially sweet one after racist and Islamophobic backlash to her appearance on the show. (Hussain is Muslim and the daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants.) “I’m never gonna put boundaries on myself ever again,” she said at the time in a moving acceptance speech.
Ever the chef, Hussain sounds as though she’ll do more than just sample the foods and techniques she encounters on her new show: “I can’t wait to meet these local food heroes, to find inspiration in the most unusual food stories and unlikely ingredients and then come up with some brand new recipes in the kitchen, adding my own special twist,” she told BBC.
She previously starred in a two-part documentary exploring Bangladeshi cuisine, called—no kidding—The Chronicles of Nadiya.
