Nikki Grahame

SHE was known for her huge personality, but when Big Brother star Nikki Grahame tragically died at the age of 38 following a 30-year battle with anore.

She didn't think she was anything special, but she was." Speaking about the moment Nikki rose to fame in 2006, Carly says: "I wasn't worried about her going in the house. "One day she tried to get up the stairs and she had to crawl on her hands and knees. It was almost like it gave her a reason to live again... She would be there for you with every inch of herself - that was the best Nikki. "She was so poorly. the voice that's telling me to self destruct. She was so busy." She was never happy. It was just awful. I needed to control something in my life. "She suddenly came alive...

A new Channel 4 documentary and tribute to Nikki Grahame will air exclusive interviews and insight into her life.

She died on April 9, 2021, and the documentary is a tribute to her life one year after her death. Nikki's battle with the eating disorder continued throughout her life and she has discussed her journey on TV, as well as writing books. When she was diagnosed with anorexia aged eight she was one of the youngest people in the UK with the eating disorder. In 2010 Nikki entered the Big Brother house again for the Ultimate Big Brother when she came second. In one of her books Fragile, about her battle with the eating disorder, she said: “I started to think that to be better at gymnastics and to be more popular, I had to be skinny. She was so popular with the viewers that she was voted back into the Big Brother house and later finished fifth in the series.

Nikki Grahame became a household name after finishing fifth place in 2006's edition of Big Brother. Find out more about the reality star and her tragic ...

Recounting the first time she realised that Nikki was suffering from an eating disorder, Susan said: "I first noticed when Nikki was about seven and a half. Following her appearance on the Channel 4 programme, she was given her own reality show, Princess Nikki, which ran for six episodes. Nikki Grahame rose to fame after competing in the seventh series of reality show Big Brother in 2006.

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Sue said: "In order for her to eat she needs to know she can exercise, so when they closed it was quite a worry, the isolation as well. In 2015, the reality star appeared as a guest house mate on the 16th series of Big Brother UK - and a year later, she finished in sixth place on Big Brother Canada. Who IS she?’.

Tragic Big Brother star Nikki Grahame struggled with an eating disorder since the age of eight and was admitted to over 17 institutions over the years to ...

Giving a tour of the apartment, Sue goes into the bedroom and says: "When I come here and stay in her flat, I sleep here on this bit in her bed, cuddling Pingu, who actually she was cuddling when she died. Part of me has died and I miss her, more than I can say." "When the lockdown came along in 2020, I don't know if it was premonition or not, but Nikki was really, really scared," Sue, Nikki's mum, says. "Watching them put my little girl in a bag, taking her down in the lift and I asked them which end her head was," Sue says. The paramedics said to her 'One day your body will give up Nikki, but we can't take you against your will'. "There was one Sunday morning when she called me and said, 'Imogen, I just want to die.' The first thing I done was call the ambulance," she says.

The Big Brother star was beloved by the public, but was haunted by an eating disorder that eventually killed her last year.

The outbursts, said Cunningham, were reminiscent of the ones she would have at home over her frustrations with food, though in the Big Brother house she was hiding her illness. Nikki Grahame: Who Is She? excelled as a memorial, but it did not interrogate much about the impact of fame (though this was certainly not entertainment). Knowing what a star Grahame became in her later years, it was devastating to hear how she struggled as a child. The nation was first introduced to Grahame in 2006, when she entered the Big Brother house wearing a pink satin corset, a bunny tail and ears, and not much else. She had the entire weight of the world on her shoulders.” Described by her mother Sue as an “alter ego”, Grahame’s anorexia first presented itself when she was just eight after a particularly rough time in the family, including her parents’ divorce.

Note: This article contains discussion of eating disorders which some readers may prefer to avoid. Channel 4 has aired a heartbreaking, crucial documentary ...

Its phone helpline for those aged 18 and over is 0808 801 0677, and there's also a dedicated Youthline for those under 18 – 0808 801 0711. "Hope the #NikkiGrahame doc is a good one. The same year, she won a National Television Award for Most Popular TV Contender, one of the happiest moments in her career, as her mother recalled it.

In a move that will be controversial for many, this documentary suggested Big Brother had a net positive impact on the troubled star's life.

This documentary was full of friends and family testifying that Big Brother kept Grahame alive for a decade after she had expected to die. She got the attention – people in this show call it “love” – she craved by losing and gaining weight. “She was so poorly, I had phone calls saying I had to come, that she was drifting in and out and they didn't think she was going to make it,” recalled Susan. The question that this programme danced around is to what extent reality TV is culpable for her death. Big Brother presenter Dermot O’Leary explained her appeal: “There was a naivety there that never left her. She first made a splash as a contestant on Channel 4's Big Brother in 2006, arriving dressed as a Playboy Bunny and leaving with many viewers’ hearts in her hot-pants' pockets.

Channel 4 viewers have been left 'heartbroken' as they tuned in to watch the devastating documentary about Big Brother star Nikki Grahame and her battle ...

It is so special to me." I met her a few years ago at an event and I just wanted to hug her and take her home with me." #nikkigrahame," another penned, as a fifth wrote: "This #NikkiGrahame documentary.

The documentary, Nikki Grahame: Who Is She?, celebrated her life ahead of the first anniversary of her tragic death.

Later, Vanessa recalled the moment she saw a photo of Nikki on the GoFund me page that was set up to raise awareness of her battle with anorexia, shortly before her death. After archive footage of the pair chatting about Nikki’s illness in scenes aired on Big Brother, a visibly emotional Vanessa said: "Nikki was a mischievous, hilarious girl with a really naughty sense of humour. @roxycampbell said: "I don't think I've been in tears at tv programme from start to finish before. She also regularly featured on spin-off show Bit On The Side and had her own reality series Princess Nikki on E4. The fundamental heart of it is she's someone's daughter and that's the heartbreak,” Dermot added, speaking of Nikki's mum Sue." Niki Grahame's life was celebrated and her struggles documented in a Channel 4 documentary on Thursday night.