Blue’s Duncan James has spoken out about his good friend Nikki Grahame’s death and revealed he ‘begged her to eat’ while she was in the grips of anorexia.
The pair became close at the height of their fame in the 00s, when Nikki became a standout star of the seventh series of Big Brother and Blue were one of the biggest pop groups in the charts.
Speaking of their friendship, Duncan said, “When I was doing Chicago the musical a couple of years ago with Alexandra Burke she [Nikki] came and saw me. The picture of me I posted hugging her was backstage at the show.
“She looked so thin then. I said, ‘You need to eat. Why are you so thin?’ And she said, ‘Oh stop nagging me!’ I said, ‘No, you've got to start to eat.’ And she said, ‘I’ve been battling this for years.’
CHECK OUT: BB series 7 - where are they now?
Big Brother series 7
1 of 18Pete Bennett
Pete was the first housemate to enter the Big Brother house, and made quite an entrance by falling down he stairs. He was also the last to leave after winning the show with a landslide 61% of the vote.
2 of 18Pete Bennett now
Pete's now an actor, starring in a show called Green Fingers on Amazon Prime. In late 2020, he's appearing in a Catherine Tate film, This Nan's Life.
3 of 18Glyn Wise
Remember Glyn? Only vaguely? Us too, yet he came second on the show after a whopping 93 days in the house. Blimey.
4 of 18Glyn Wise now
Glyn stood as Plaid Cymru's candidate in Cardiff Central in 2016 but resigned from the party later that year.
5 of 18Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace
Aisleyne divided opinion among the Big Brother housemates, she was voted to be sent to the House Next Door in week six, but she was popular with viewers and ended in a very respectable third place.
6 of 18Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace now
Aisleyne is the biggest monetary success story of her series and is worth an estimated cool £4.3m. She's still a darling of the tabloids and, honestly? We're still a little bit in love with her.
7 of 18Richard Newman
Another housemate who stirred up mixed feelings in the house, Richard survived eviction a whopping six times. He wound up in fourth place.
8 of 18Richard Newman not really now tbh
It's remarkably difficult to find an up-to-date snap of Richard (rude) so here's a jolly picture of him and fellow housemate Lea Walker. He went on to present a show on Gaydar radio for two years after the show.
9 of 18Nikki Grahame
One of the most iconic Big Brother contestants of all time, Nikki Grahame was booted out of the house on day 58 but was put back in on day 83 and basically jumped on Pete. She ended up in fifth place which is weird considering her "WHO IS SHE?" rant is still common parlance.
10 of 18Nikki Grahame now
Since leaving Big Brother, Nikki has did a whole lot more Big Brother, including Ultimate Big Brother (she came second to Brian Dowling) and Big Brother Canada 4 (she lasted a whopping 59 days).In April 2021, she tragically passed away following a 30 year battle with anorexia.
11 of 18Jennie Corner
Look, we're going to level with you here. We don't remember anything about Jennie's time in the house and yet she was part of the finale and came in sixth place after 49 days in the house.
12 of 18Jennie Corner...still in 2006
Jennie's post-Big Brother life seems to have been lived out of the spotlight (as is her absolute right). She did a saucy photoshoot for now defunct lads' mag Zoo, posted some tweets in 2013 but other than that...nada.
13 of 18Imogen Thomas
Miss Wales 2003, Imogen lasted 86 days in the Big Brother house, just missing out on a place in the finale.
14 of 18Imogen Thomas
Unlike Jennie, Imogen has very much kept herself in the public eye. Her most notorious moment was when her alleged affair with Ryan Giggs was subject to a gagging order in 2011.
15 of 18Mikey Dalton and Grace Adams-Short
Grace and Mikey got together on the show, although when Grace left on day 30, Mikey stayed on and clocked up 79 days in the house.
16 of 18Mikey Dalton and Grace Adams-Short now
There can't have been any hard feelings though: the pair married in 2009 and are...still together.
17 of 18Lea Walker
Lea once claimed to have the biggest boobs in Britain. Ah, mems. The big busted former porn star, who we were HUGE fans of, was evicted on day 51 but returned for three days at the end of the show's run.
18 of 18Lea Walker now
Lea presented a radio show with Richard for two years (see above). She now has an OnlyFans account, but she's now brunette (sorry, this is an old pic).
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"I've got so many great, fond memories of her. So many fun events we've been to together. So many times we hung out at parties or red carpet events and we'd always just end up spending the evening together having fun. She really was a beautiful person and I was devastated to hear the news of her death."
He continued, "It's really sad because I wish I'd known. I wish someone had told me she was in a hospital. At least I could have tried to contact her and speak to her or at least say goodbye.”
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Nikki Grahame's mum opens up about daughter's anorexia relapse
Nikki passed away earlier this month at the tragic young age of 38, after battling her eating disorder all her life.
A statement from Nikki's representative read, "It is with immeasurable sadness that Nikki Grahame passed away in the early hours of Friday 9th April 2021.
"Please respect the privacy of Nikki’s friends and family at this tragic and difficult time"
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