Behind the Scenes with Nadia Sawalha

From Loose Women and Culinary Queen to YouTube Sensation.

Nadia Sawalha is a renowned television presenter, actress, chef, and advocate for mental health. She rose to fame as a presenter on the popular daytime show “Loose Women” and has since become a household name.

In this exclusive interview, Nadia opens up about her career, personal life, and her journey to success. From her early days in the industry to her latest projects, Nadia shares her experiences and insights into the world of showbiz. Join us as we delve into the life of this multi-talented star.

From Loose Women to Saturday Cookbook, you’ve been a presenter on a variety of shows. What are some of the highlights of your career so far?

I look on everything I’ve done quite fondly because I’ve done movies, almost every daytime show that came up on the BBC, and then Loose Women which has been amazing, EastEnders; so, when I got Loose Women I just came out of EastEnders and I never thought I was going to be a presenter, so to then get a whole new career that has just spanned over 25 years has been amazing – I still do Loose Women and I love it passionately but to now have the freedom that we have with our YouTube channel where we can create the content we would want to see is great. I have recently just started a cookery show with my sister, we’re only 7 episodes in and it’s just fantastic, we’re having so much fun! People always say to me, ‘what do you want to do in the future, what did you like in the past?’, but I’m very much a person that says right here, right now, I’ve got such a good balance. I’ve got live TV, I’ve got my channel, the kids are doing well, and I’ve got great friends.

You’re also an accomplished author, with several cookbooks on your belt. Can you talk about your writing process and how you come up with new ideas?

My sister and I are currently working on one that will be out next summer, with recipe books I always think of it as putting it into groups, what do people want? They want something that’s easy, something that’s a bit fancy, nobody wants to buy a lot of ingredients, so I’m always thinking about what I know about the people that follow me, but this time with my sister it’s just so lovely because we can bounce ideas off each other and just talk about the food so much without worrying that the person would get bored (because most people get bored with how much I talk about food) but I know she never will! I’m enjoying this the most out of all the cookbooks I have done!

You’re known for your love of cooking and have even competed on Celebrity MasterChef. What are some of your favourite recipes to cook at home?

I have recently started making homemade jam doughnuts freshly fried, honestly my kids’ faces when they bite into them, they’re like ‘OMG Mum’. And then recently I’ve been trying to perfect the most perfect cinnamon bun. Now, I’m not a baker, I would go onto British Bake Off and would come last so this year it has been my thing to bake more and make more bread because I’m not very good at it, and I’m actually really enjoying it. I love Middle Eastern food because that’s where I’m from, I love Spanish food – but I also love to cook a BIG roast, I love sometimes to take a whole day to cook the most perfect roast with everything on it from cauliflower cheese to homemade puddings and then to have the family round for everyone to enjoy and just be so happy.

You recently launched a new YouTube series which offers a behind-thescenes look at your family life. How has the response been to this series, and what can viewers expect to see in future episodes?

Well we’ve been doing our podcast, which is also a video on our channel called ‘How To Stay Married So Far’ which has been going great, but our reality show ‘Home Time’ is just our family living life, and I think the reason people like it so much is because the place is always upside down, we have a lot of laughs, there is no ‘living the perfect life’ whatsoever. I think people watch it and feel better about their lives, haha! A bit like on my Instagram, I do Instagram VS reality to make people aware that we don’t all have these perfect lives. So, everything we do on our channel is very much behind the scenes, you’re getting exactly what we live like. Mark, my husband, will literally just turn the camera on and we will start filming, there is never a plan. People say ‘this reality show ought to be on television’ but I say ‘no, if it was on television, we wouldn’t be able to do all the things we do!’

Your YouTube channel and social media presence have gained a large following. How has social media impacted your career and the way you connect with your audience?

I am hugely grateful to social media, I love the connection I’ve got with the audience on my Instagram, I love that I get so many comments about how I make people laugh, or make people feel better about their body image, or to entertain and inform them. We’re going to be making a documentary on ADHD and we have such a brilliant relationship with our subscribers on YouTube and Instagram, you could look at one of our videos and you will see we have so many amazing comments underneath, and they really feel like they know us because we share everything in our house!

You’ve been very open about your experience with ADHD and how it’s impacted your life. How did you first discover that you have ADHD, and how has it affected your career?

The full diagnoses are hundreds of questions going right back through your life, and then I got the diagnosis, there is never any harm about knowing more about ourselves and knowing why we tick and understanding. It’s been really amazing to look through my life at the good bits, at the bad bits and just go ‘oh I wonder if that was something to do with this, where I felt like I was stupid, or I felt like I was lazy’. I’m still learning things all the time and I am so glad that I have had the diagnoses and so many people have contacted me and they’re so happy that it explains a lot of things. I don’t want thousands of children to be deemed stupid, or lazy, or naughty, when it could be that they have ADHD, so the more awareness, the better, because a person that goes through school with ADHD is not going to get the education they deserve which means they’re not going to be able to contribute to their families and society in the ways that they possibly could, so the more awareness we get, the better because in the long run people will be able to have more of a life that they deserve.

A number of your YouTube videos are about ADHD and what it was like to be diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, including your story ‘Living with ADHD’. What inspired you to share your story in this way?

I have been at Loose Women for 25 years, on our YouTube channel, and on Loose Women, we talk a lot about mental health and we will continue to talk about it and break down those taboos because there are still many people that think everybody should shut up and put up, but I know the struggles. My husband has bipolar and ADHD and I have watched how hard that can be and other friends of mine that have had depression, I also know how much it means to them when they see people in the public eye talking about it, helping people understand more.

Your YouTube channel covers a wide range of topics, from parenting to mental health to cooking. How do you decide what content to create?

We have very regular shows six days a week, ‘Coffee Moaning’ ‘Saturday Cooking Show’ ‘Movie Reviews’, ‘Trailer Reviews’, ‘Saturday Family Show’ and our gardening show, ‘Green Fingered Hell’ - so we have got a full channel. Then we will have an idea, like we want to do this ADHD documentary, so it’s everchanging. At the minute, I’m really fascinated with death doulas, people that help people on their journey into death, so were looking into it as a programme. But we just pick up our camera, and our presenter; me, and just go off and do it, so anything could happen at any time!

What advice do you have for others who are living with ADHD and looking for ways to cope and thrive?

I think the more you can find out about it the better. There is a podcast called ADDITUDE and there are hundreds of episodes on it. It covers absolutely everything so any subject within ADHD that you wanted to know whether it’s your kids or medication, there will be a podcast within that. There are lots of Instagram accounts too, so I think just get really curious about it, because the more curious you are, the more you find out and the better you can look after yourself or anyone in your family.

The SawalhaAdderleysFamily, Food, Films & Fun is available on YouTube now www.youtube.com/@ sawalhaadderleys