The Great British Bake Off
Nadiya revealed her son has been watching her on TV from his hospital bed BBC1

With her inventive cakes, her witty one-liners and her animated expressions Nadiya Hussain has won over the British public as a contestant on the Great British Bake-Off. Making it through to the final she is the favourite to win the competition, but the 30-year-old mother of four has revealed her personal heartache behind the scenes.

Writing on Twitter she revealed that her young son is ill and has been watching her on TV from his hospital bed. Sharing the news with her 24.5K Twitter followers, Nadiya tweeted: "Children are so special. Even when they are sick they seem to find a way of smiling. Innocence and spirit are a beautiful combination."

Posting a picture of her son watching the Bake Off in the children's ward, she wrote: "Even though he's sick in hospital he still wants to watch #gbbo #dedicated."

She did not reveal the nature of his illness, but it is thought he was admitted to a hospital near the family home in Leeds on his birthday.

Nadiya thanked hospital staff for cheering up her son while he was ill. She wrote: "@LTHTrust thanks to staff at DFloor Ward10 for the presents for his bday yesterday. Lit up his day! Absolute stars!"

The Bake-Off favourite has been flooded with supportive messages from well-wishers on social media. One viewer commented: "I hope he gets better soon

Her son has now returned home and is rooting for his mum to walk away with the Bake-Off crown.

Nadiya has had a emotional run on the show, after a sunken soufflé left her in tears. She redeemed herself however with a chocolate peacock centrepiece in the Showstopper Challenge winning star baker award for the second consecutive week and for the third time in the competition.

Nadiya, who is of Bangladeshi origin and a practising Muslim said she had her doubts as to how the public would react to her on the show.

"Originally, I was a bit nervous that perhaps people would look at me, a Muslim in a headscarf, and wonder if I could bake. But I hope that week by week people have realised that I can bake – and just because I'm not a stereotypical British person, it doesn't mean that I am not into bunting, cake and tea."

Nadiya is set to face travel photographer Ian Cumming, 42, and trainee anaesthetist Tamal Ray, 28 in a thrilling final which is expected to be the biggest TV event of 2015 and the most watched episode in the show's history.

The show with judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood has proven to be an unprecedented success with last Wednesday's semi-final watched by 10.2million viewers.

The Great British Bake-Off Final airs on Wednesday October 7 at 8pm on BBC One.