Nadiya Hussain can date exactly the first time she came to this restaurant – Olive Tree, a big lively Turkish grill on a prominent corner of one of Milton Keynes’s 1970s precincts. It was seven years ago, the week her family moved to the new town from Luton, where she grew up. “We were living out of boxes and needed somewhere quick and halal,” she says. “But we’ve been coming back ever since. Our three kids love it – they were so jealous when they heard I was coming here with the Observer…”
Seven years also dates the moment when the family’s life turned upside down when Nadiya became Bake Off champion and instant national treasure. You don’t have to spend five minutes with her to see why she joined that exclusive group of TV competition veterans – my list stops at Harry Styles and Susan Boyle and her – who have sustained their 15 minutes of fame. She is a brilliant mix of things. She talks 20 to the dozen as we order her family favourites – “hummus because it comes with great bread, for sure the lamb’s liver – delicious! – the adana skewers, if you like spicy, halloumi, chops” – but she also has a kind of quiet poise.
