Tragic Big Brother star dies after struggle with anorexia
BIG Brother star Nikki Grahame has died after a battle with anorexia, friends revealed yesterday.
The reality TV star, 38, died on Friday, a month after making a crowdfunding appeal to fund residential treatment to help her beat the eating disorder. A statement on her GoFundMe appeal page said: ‘It is with great sadness, we have to let you know that our dear friend Nikki passed away in the early hours of Friday 9th April.’
Ms Grahame, who shot to fame in the seventh series of the Channel 4 show in 2006, checked in to a private hospital after raising the £ 65,000 needed for t reatment thanks to donations from Radio 2’s Rylan Clark and Vanessa Feltz.
Her mother Sue appeared on television show This Morning last week, revealing how her daughter’s health battle had worsened after gyms closed during lockdown – making it more difficult for her to 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.’ Her mother said her daughter suffered from ‘terminal loneliness’, adding: ‘She felt very cut off, spending too much time on her own with not enough to think about other than food.’ Ms Grahame had been open about her anorexia battle since her appearance on Big Brother, having fought the illness since childhood.