Nikki Grahame’s mum opens up about daughter’s anorexia relapse

Mum Sue on how lockdown triggered Nikki's disorder

Nikki Grahame Sue Grahame

by Nathan Katnoria |
Updated on

Trigger Warning: This article includes talk of disordered eating which some readers may find distressing.

Nikki Grahame’s mum Sue has opened up about her daughter’s battle with anorexia after she entered a specialist treatment facility due to a relapse.

The Big Brother legend has battled the eating disorder since she was a child, but Sue has revealed Nikki began struggling again when gyms were closed in lockdown.

During an appearance on This Morning yesterday (30 March), Sue explained how Nikki began to dread eating if she wasn’t able to exercise.

“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,” Sue told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.

The reality star’s mum continued, “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. It all came to a grinding halt.”

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Pete Bennett1 of 20
CREDIT: Channel 4

Pete 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.

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CREDIT: Instagram

Pete 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.

Glyn Wise3 of 20
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Glyn Wise

Remember Glyn? Only vaguely? Us too, yet he came second on the show after a whopping 93 days in the house. Blimey.

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Glyn Wise now

Glyn stood as Plaid Cymru's candidate in Cardiff Central in 2016 but resigned from the party later that year.

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Aisleyne 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.

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CREDIT: Getty

Aisleyne 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.

Richard Newman7 of 20
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Richard Newman

Another housemate who stirred up mixed feelings in the house, Richard survived eviction a whopping six times. He wound up in fourth place.

Richard Newman8 of 20
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Richard 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.

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Nikki 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. She ended up in fifth place which is weird considering her "WHO IS SHE?" rant is still common parlance.

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Nikki Grahame now

Since leaving Big Brother, Nikki has done 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).Nikki tragically passed away in April 2020 following a long battle with anorexia.

Jennie Corner11 of 20
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Jennie 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.

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Jennie 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.

Imogen Thomas13 of 20
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Imogen Thomas

Miss Wales 2003, Imogen lasted 86 days in the Big Brother house, just missing out on a place in the finale.

Imogen Thomas14 of 20
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Imogen 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.

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Mikey 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.

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Mikey Dalton and Grace Adams-Short now

There can't have been any hard feelings though: the pair married in 2009 and are...still together.

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Lea 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.

Lea Walker now18 of 20
CREDIT: Twitter

Lea Walker now

Lea presented a radio show with Richard for two years (see above). She now has an OnlyFans account, as is the modern way and, from Twitter, seems as feisty and opinionated as ever. Hooray!

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Sezer Yurtseven

Sezer was the second person to be evicted from the house (after Bonnie Holt) but the fifth to leave after two housemates walked in the first two weeks (Shahbaz Chauhdry and George Askew) and Dawn Blake was ejected for apparently breaking the rules.

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Sezer Yurtseven now

Sezer's had quite the glow up since leaving the house. He know describes as a homeless campaigner which just adds to the phwoar factor.

Sue also recalled the moment she first realised “something was wrong” with Nikki at the age of seven.

She said, “We had a lot of stuff going on. You know, my dad got very sick and of course that affected me and I think she was worried for me and I tried to put on a brave face.

“We had other things going on, my marriage broke up and my husband had struggles at work so I know [our home] wasn't a happy place.

“One point stands in my mind. She was seven and we went to a restaurant and Nikki stood beside me, she wouldn't actually sit, she was just beside me and it was around that time that I noticed, she started refusing to eat, that's the one thing that stuck in my mind.”

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Nikki is currently receiving treatment for her eating disorder at a specialist facility after her raise funds to pay for the life-saving care in an online campaign.

Over £61,000 was raised after the likes of Rylan Clark-Neal and Nicola McLean donated and shared the fundraiser on social media.

Sharing a message from her daughter during her TV appearance, Sue said, “I heard from Nikki this morning and she said, 'please stress how overwhelmed I am at people's kindness towards me. I am so grateful.'

“But she said, 'also tell everybody I'm going to try my level best to beat this'."

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