Nikki Grahame charmed the nation with her “unapologetic” approach to starring in Big Brother.
The star, who passed away in 2021, is now the subject of a new documentary that will explore her life and battle with anorexia.
Here’s everything you need to know about Nikki Grahame.
Who was Nikki Grahame?
The Channel 4 synopsis for the documentary describes Ms Grahame as “feisty, volatile and unapologetic” and this seems like an appropriate description for Nikki Grahame.
She was born on 28 April 1982 and grew up in Northwood, in London.
Ms Grahame rose to fame after joining the Big Brother house during the seventh series in 2006, but she had battled with anorexia for most of her life.
She was admitted to a psychiatric hospital after a suicide bid aged 12, and had even been force fed through a tube.
Ms Grahame’s best friend Carly Cunningham described their time in the clinic together as “horrific at times. We would be fed with a tube that would go down our nose into our stomachs (known as an NG-feed), and we could hear each other crying and screaming from our rooms. But we had such fun there too, getting into trouble like teenage girls do.”
They lived together in a flat in Northwood in their twenties when they were both well, a tie she said were “the best days of my life”.
Ms Cunningham said her friend had always wanted to go on Big Brother, and that the show “saved her”.
“I was never concerned about Nikki being on TV. I was so happy for her. I knew she needed something to take her mind off her illness – she was always on the edge of falling back into it. Big Brother saved her.
During the show she uttered her immortal line: “Who IS she?! Who IS she?!”, and became a TV legend.
After Big Brother, Ms Grahame starred in ger reality show, Princess Nikki, which ran for six episodes.
She also starred in Ultimate Big Brother in 2010, she was again a housemate in 2015, she starred in Canadian Big Brother in 2017, and also returned to the UK version in 2018.
But behind the bright and funny media persona, Nikki was a complex woman who struggled with her eating disorder.
She openly shared her journey, and released two autobiographies, Dying To Be Thin as well as Fragile.
How did she die?
Sadly, her illness reached crisis point during the UK’s third national lockdown and, tragically, Nikki lost her fight for life on Friday 9 April 2021.
Her cause of death was listed as anorexia nervosa.
She struggled with the illness until the end, something the documentary reveals.
“The only time I feel comfortable looking in the mirror is when I’m emaciated,” the former Big Brother housemate Nikki Grahame tells her therapist in a session filmed shortly before she succumbed to anorexia in 2021.
Ms Grahame’s illness spiralled out of control when she could not go to the gym in the first lockdown.
Her mother Sue explained that “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.”
Her friends raised over £65,500 and she checked into a private hospital to treat her eating disorder.
In the meantime Ms Grahame entered Dorset County Hospital, where she remained until she was discharged on 8 April, but was found the next day in her Stanmore flat.
She was due to enter a private facility the following week.
Her mother has said her BMI was just 10 when she died, and that her condition was “pitiful” when she was discharged.
If you require any information or support for eating disorders, go to B-EAT:
- Tel: 0808 801 0677 (adults over 18)
- Email: help@beateatingdisorders.org.uk (adults over 18)
- Tel: 0808 801 0711 (youth line under 18)
- Email: fyp@beateatingdisorders.org.uk (youth line under 18)
- The BEAT phone helplines are free and open 365 days a year from 9am-8pm during the week, and 4pm-8pm on weekends and bank holidays.
What can we expect from the documentary?
Channel 4 says the hour-long film “film will celebrate Nikki’s life through archive and home movies. Exclusive interviews with Nikki’s mother, close family and friends – and tributes from celebrity colleagues – will reveal the complexities of anorexia and the impact this cruel and misunderstood illness had on Nikki and everybody who loved her”.
Sue Graham, Nikki’s mother says: “Nikki was so much more than a reality TV contestant and I am looking forward to celebrating her short life in this documentary. It will be tough, but Nikki was one special girl – kind and smart with the biggest heart – and I know Jane and Angel Eye will do her proud.”
How can I watch?
Nikki Grahame: Who Is She? airs at 9pm on Channel 4 on Thursday 7 April.
It will also be available on All 4.
