`RAW AND UNAPOLOGETIC'
Big Brother Canada host Cox pays tribute to late reality star Grahame
U.K. and Canadian reality TV star Nikki Grahame has died following a lifelong battle with anorexia.
The star, who finished in fifth place on the seventh season of Big Brother U.K. in 2006, lost her battle with anorexia on Friday, her friend Leon Dee confirmed. She was 38.
“It is with great sadness, we have to let you know that our dear friend Nikki passed away in the early hours of Friday April 9th,” he shared on a GoFundMe page.
“It breaks our hearts to know that someone who is so precious was taken from us at such a young age. Nikki not only touched the lives of millions of people, but also her friends and family who will miss her immensely.”
Big Brother Canada host and executive producer Arisa Cox spoke first exclusively to the Sun about her beloved Nikki, who competed during Season 4 in an international plot twist. (The U.K. vixen finished in sixth place.)
Cox, who reveals the show will acknowledge Nikki's passing in an upcoming episode, remembers: “Nikki is an icon; no exaggerating.”
The Canadian Screen Award nominee adds: “She's a game-changer. She became the blueprint of being yourself without a filter when you're on camera. And that is still so rare to see today. She was this tiny, big ball of energy. She was raw and unapologetic — and that's why she's a legend. Canada voted Nikki in during BBCAN4 and was loved by our country. I'm having trouble processing this. It's such a loss — for family/ friends and the BB universe.”
Nikki checked into a private hospital as a last-ditch attempt to treat her eating disorder in March, after her desperate friends managed to raise more than $89,791 to start paying for life-saving care. Nikki's mum Sue recently told British TV show This Morning her daughter's health battle was sparked when gyms closed during lockdown, as the star dreaded eating if she couldn't exercise.
She said: “With COVID, it sounds crazy, but stuff like gyms closing impacted her. 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.
“I asked her if she would come and stay with me, but she said she needs to be in her home. She was (suffering terminal loneliness), she felt very cut off and spending too much time on her own with not enough to think about other than food.”