LIFE is undeniably good for Nadiya Hussain.

And she isn’t taking a single minute for granted.

Even from our relatively short conversation over the phone it is easy to tell why the nation quickly took the mum-of-three to their hearts when she swept to victory in the Great British Bake-Off two years ago.

She chats easily about the two very different sides of her life - television personality and wife and mother - and how she is able to enjoy the best of both worlds.

“I definitely still pinch myself all the time about how things have turned out and I don’t have any expectations other than to enjoy every day as it comes.

“I wholeheartedly believe that if it all ended tomorrow I would just be happy with what I had achieved so far.

“I don’t live with any expectation.

“And having my family keeps me really grounded and I am so lucky to have their support.

“I am still able to just live a normal life, going out and about and doing a bit of shopping, like I am today and then going off later to watch my children’s sports day, which I am really looking forward to.

“I can enjoy both worlds, the one where I go out and make television programmes and the other where I come home, take care of my kids and do my laundry and clean my toilets.

“If I had found this career as a young person I might have gone a bit wild but I have got a lovely husband and family to keep me grounded!”

With her own cookery series, Nadiya’s British Food Adventure, due to air this summer and the accompanying book about to be released Nadiya’s in high demand still following her GBBO success.

She has also already filmed a 12-part BBC2 series, the Big Family Cooking Showdown with Zoe Ball which is due to be screened in the autumn.

“The British Food Adventure is basically my take on British Food so there is a bit of everything in there.

“It is really broad and I think there is a bit in there for everyone.

“I also get to do fresh things with traditional recipes which really excites me,” she explains.

Nadiya, 32, says she began cooking when she was nine and baking aged 12 and while her rapid ascent into the limelight was not something she expected, she continues to enjoy it and accept it with open arms.

As well as her presenting, and writing career, she is also enjoying numerous appearances at food festivals, including the Essex Food and Drink Festival at Cressing Temple Barns later this month where she will give two cookery demonstrations on the second day of the event.

“I don’t think anyone who goes on a competition like that expects to come out and get a television career out of it.

“And it is the same with going to festivals. I just wanted to take any opportunities I was given really.

“I have already done a cake and bake event and it was really weird and quite daunting at first.

“But thinking about it I used to pretend to be a cook and teach my brothers and my teddies to cook from when I was really young, until they got bored.

“And so I just drew on that really.

“The festivals are just a great way of meeting people who are really, genuinely interested in food.

“I haven’t been to Essex before but I am really looking forward to it and, basically, to being able to eat lots of amazing different food.

“It can get really busy at festivals so I plan to get out early in the day so I can have a good look around and then get back in time for my demonstration or I might not get back,” she laughs.

One thing people can expect is for Nadiya to be exactly how she is on television when you speak to her or meet her in person.

It is something she prides herself on.

“Before I went on Bake-Off I didn’t really think about it being on the television.

“I was just myself and that was that, I suppose I was a bit naive really.

“And then when it was about to be aired I realised everyone was going to see it but now I realise it is so important to just be myself.”

She explains she also really enjoyed the process of writing the book which accompanies her BBC series Nadiya’s Great British Food Adventure.

“I have been writing since I was seven when I won a poetry competition.

“And since then I have always written whether that was stories or poems.

“It was always something I kept for myself so I have got quite a back catalogue but now I have come to a place in my life where I am writing for others too,” adds Nadiya who writes a weekly column for a national newspaper and a regularly has recipes features in BBC’s Good Food Magazine.

She admits there are always certain expectations in the wake of her success as a bake-off winner though.

“People always expect me to bring a cake wherever I go and while I will always try and fulfill that, I am not prudish and I have no problem with buying one to take with me.

“There are some days I just don’t want to bake but I have to say I always bake my bread from scratch myself.”

And she says rather than being an onerous task - this is the perfect weather for homemade bread.

“When you have got weather like this is it just perfect for proving it. Stick it outside, go and do some other jobs and then come back and it is ready for the oven.”

n There are still tickets available for Nadiya’s demonstrations at the Essex Festival of Food and Drink on Sunday July 16 at 11am and 1pm. To book online visit essexfoodfestival.co.uk until 5pm on Thursday July 13. Tickets available on the door only after that time.

n The Essex Festival of Food and Drink starts on Saturday, July 15, and runs from 10am to 5pm, and again on Sunday, July 16.