Saudi Arabian-born mum-of-three Huda is no stranger to heartbreak. When she was 16, her elder sister by two years, Zainab, died after she was rushed to hospital in her second trimester.
Huda, 34, says that she was kept in the dark about the circumstances surrounding her sister’s death until about three years ago.
“I knew she had a miscarriage, but I didn’t really know anything,” the MasterChef Australia contestant tells TV WEEK.
“And I didn’t have the courage to ask my mum about it. It was tragic.”
Huda lost her sister when she was just 16 years old.
Two years later, when she was 18, Huda’s parents arranged for her to marry her late sister’s husband, Abdulmunem.
“It was awkward and I didn’t know if it was the right thing to do, but I was young,” she explains. “My parents knew he was a good man and it’s the traditional way of marriage [in Arab culture].”
Now, Huda is able to fondly look back on the marriage to Abdulmenem as a “gift” from her beloved sister.
“I’m so lucky to have a supportive husband,” she says. “I just want to say thank you to her.”
Huda (second from left) and husband Abdulmunem with their three children.
More than 15 years later, Huda and Abdulmunem remain happily married and have three children.
“I’m doing this for all of us,” she says.
MasterChef Australia airs Monday to Thursday, and Sunday, 7.30pm, on 10.
