Bake Off's Nadiya Hussain reveals her battle with pandemic panic attacks and fears for her mum and sisters on the coronavirus frontline

‘But sometimes I find that draining in itself.  'I have to allow myself to be sad occasionally in those moments where I need to make myself feel relatively normal. ‘When I feel my anxiety rising, I think, “Hold yourself together: you are safe, well and happy, with food in your belly; there’s nothing to worry about.”' Nadiya, who won the baking contest in 2015, says she is ‘really proud’ of the work her mother does, cleaning hospital linen during 12-hour shifts.  ‘While I want her to be at home, safe and protected from this virus, she has to do her job,’ she says. ‘It’s not about her being a hero or keeping the country running, it’s a job she needs so she can get paid.’ The 35-year-old also worries about her sisters: one works at a pharmacy, another as a doctor’s receptionist and the other as a key worker at a school. Every day is like a counselling session with each sister.’ Nadiya hopes the pandemic might leave at least one positive legacy –‘that we don’t forget the important people who helped to keep us afloat. That those “low-skilled workers” are celebrated and we don’t forget what they did.’ Last year, The Mail on Sunday revealed how Nadiya had suffered a sexual assault by a relative when she was five.  The attack left her with post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic anxiety.