‘I was forced into having Botox’ BEFORE
After a long battle with her appearance, former Big Brother star Nikki Grahame reveals she’s turned to cosmetic work
ver since she was eight years E old, Nikki Grahame has struggled to accept the way she looks. She developed anorexia as a child and was even admitted to a psychiatric hospital after a suicide bid aged just 12.
It’s been a lifelong battle for the former Big Brother contestant, who shot to fame in 2006, endeared herself to the nation with her temper tantrums and was one of the first reality TV stars to land her own spinoff show, Princess Nikki, before returning to star in 2010’s Ultimate Big Brother.
NEGATIVE COMMENTS
Years of battling with an eating disorder ruined her self-esteem and, in 2010, she had a boob job, taking her from a 32A to a 32C-cup. But her demons have never been far away and, after cruel online trolls continuously bashed her appearance, dubbing her “old” and “haggard,”she felt her only option was to have Botox.
Speaking to Closer three weeks after having the procedure, Nikki, 36, says, “The lines on my forehead and crow’s feet around my eyes have been bothering me because every time I appeared on TV, people would Tweet after, saying that I had aged and was looking haggard. Big Brother was 12 years ago and they seem to forget that I can’t stay 23 all my life.
“All the negative comments gave me a complex and I kept looking at myself in the mirror, thinking, ‘I need that line to go away.’ It doesn’t help that everyone on Instagram looks immaculate and it gave me a complex. I am really self-conscious about posting videos of myself because everyone looks so perfect.”
Nikki has been open about her anorexia and, in 2008, she wrote her book Dying To Be Thin. In it, she detailed her battle with the disease and revealed she had to be fed through a tube for two years.
She kept her illness under control for ten years until she relapsed in 2011, admitting that she had a phobia of eating more than 400 calories at any one time.
After such a difficult journey with her looks, Nikki is thrilled with the results of her Botox, saying, “It has given me youth, radiance and people have commented and said I look well so, yeah, I am very happy with the results.
“I am really glad that I got it done and I think everyone should do it when they get to their thirties. I am 36 now and I felt the pressure to get Botox because so many people had said about it and trolls forced me to do it. But at least now I can look in the mirror with confidence.”
Last year, Nikki relived her demons for Channel 5 show In Therapy, in which she spoke about her eating disorder and mental illness. And she admits meeting psychotherapist Mandy Saligari on the show turned her life around.
DITCHING THE SCALES
She says, “I don’t have any counselling or therapy now. I am absolutely ‘A-OK’ and in a really good place – and that is thanks to Mandy. I have a healthy look. I’m a size 8 and 5ft 3. I haven’t weighed myself in God knows how long. I forget now and I don’t think about it. I don’t want to go down that route… it really doesn’t interest me.”
Nikki is currently single, but she’s still in touch with her former Big Brother co-star and love interest Pete Bennett, but insists there will be no further romance.
She says, “We speak to each other regularly – not in that way – we are just friends. But I care for him a lot. It wasn’t meant to be, but it was wonderful at the time. It was very magical and it got me through my time in there [the BB house] and it made it a love story. It was never meant to be long-term, we only went out for about two months in the end.”
NO MORE REALITY TV
For now. Nikki is focusing on being happy and healthy, She says, “I’m in a really good place at the moment and I have to be around really positive people and do things that make me happy. I have learned to brush off all negativity. Now I read and cycle a lot. I also enjoyed waitressing for a bit after Big Brother. “I still like making TV appearances, but I want to get a science qualification under my belt so, in September, I am starting a biology and physics course – just for fun! I love reality TV, but it’s not how I want to make a living now.”
‘People Tweeted saying I looked haggard’