‘She said I bought shame on the family’: Saira Khan reveals her mother didn’t speak to her for EIGHT MONTHS after she posed naked in a magazine
Loose Women star Saira Khan, 50, has admitted her mother didn’t speak to her for eight months after telling her she’d bought shame on the family for posing nude.
Saira was pictured naked for the cover of OK! Magazine last year, leading to a row with the TV star’s family.
Talking on Tuesday’s Loose Women, Saira said her mother only started speaking to her again on her 50th birthday in May, when the star’s son intervened.
Rift: Loose Women star Saira Khan, 50, has admitted her mother didn’t speak to her for eight months after telling her she’d bought shame on the family for posing nude
‘I did that cover shoot and my mum didn’t talk to me for eight months, Saira told her shocked ITV co-stars.
‘She said I brought shame on the family… there are members of the family who think the same that I brought shame on them but I didn’t bring shame on myself.’
Explaining why she thinks her family felt so strongly about the naked shoot, Saira continued: ‘I was brought up in an environment where a woman is made to feel bad about their body, and shamed for it.’
Of growing up the Midlands with Pakistani immigrant parents, Saira explained: ‘Women are killed for embracing their bodies… I felt by doing it I’ve broken that cycle for myself and my children, I say I don’t feel guilt and I don’t feel shame.’
Mum: Saira was pictured naked for the cover of OK! Magazine last year, leading to a row with the TV star’s family (pictured with her mother)
‘If you feel offended as a member of my family then grow with me… I felt I had to break that cycle.’
Saira explained that she was upset on her 50th birthday in May after not hearing from her mother, leading to her son Zachariah, 12, to get involved.
‘I was talking to Nadia and I got really upset that she didn’t call me,’ Saira said. ‘My children were listening and without me knowing my son went upstairs to call her up and said “mummy is really upset and you should talk to her”.’
‘But she said “no because she brought shame on our family” and he said “nanny she hasn’t brought shame she’s trying to help women”.’
Shame: Talking on Tuesday’s Loose Women, Saira said her mother only started speaking to her again on her 50th birthday in May when the star’s son intervened
Confidence: Explaining why she thinks her family felt so strongly about the shoot, Saira said: ‘I was brought up in an environment where a woman is made to feel bad about their body’
‘She called me 30 minutes later because I think she realised that she would lose her daughter and her grandson over this.
At the time of her OK! shoot Saira explained that she was making a ‘political statement for myself and other girls who may be feeling that guilt.’
The shoot helped her break free of her strict upbringing, she explained to the magazine.
Milestone: Saira explained that she was upset on her 50th birthday in May after not hearing from her mother, leading to her son Zachariah, 12, to get involved
‘I had to wear loose clothes that covered my body. It gave me the message that men can’t control their sexual urges,’ she said.
She knew then that her mum would not approve, admitting: ‘She won’t like me wearing lingerie.’
‘She really cares about what other people think, but I’m a modern woman and I want to celebrate a time when I finally feel great about myself, it’s taken a long time to get here so I’m really proud of this shoot.’
Mediator: ‘I was talking to Nadia and I got really upset that she didn’t call me,’ Saira said. ‘My children were listening and without me knowing my son went upstairs to call her up’