Nicola Rachele-Beth Grahame (28 April 1982 – 9 April 2021) was an English television personality and author. She was a contestant on the seventh series of the reality show Big Brother in 2006, which she finished in fifth place. Following the show, she starred in her own reality series Princess Nikki, and won a National Television Award for Most Popular TV Contender. In 2010, Grahame was runner-up in Ultimate Big Brother, and in 2015, she appeared as a guest housemate on the sixteenth series of Big Brother. In 2016, she competed in the fourth season of Big Brother Canada, finishing in sixth place.
Grahame suffered from anorexia nervosa throughout her life. She released the books Dying to Be Thin (2009) and Fragile (2012), both of which are based on her experiences with the illness. She died from anorexia nervosa complications on 9 April 2021, aged 38.
Early life
Grahame was born on 28 April 1982 in Northwood, London, England. She described her early childhood as the "happiest ever" but when she was eight, her parents divorced and her grandfather, to whom she was very close, died from cancer. Grahame, who had been described as a "daddy's girl", was upset by her parents' divorce, after which she was raised by her mother Susan. Grahame attended Northwood School, London.
Anorexia nervosa
Grahame developed an eating disorder that resulted in her parents having her admitted to the children's eating disorders unit at the Maudsley psychiatric hospital. She was an in-patient for six weeks but after her release, she resumed under-eating and several months later, she was rushed to an emergency unit at Hillingdon Hospital, where she was force-fed through a nasal tube. She was then transferred to Collingham Gardens child and family psychiatric unit in west London, where her weight was increased. After eight months, she was allowed to return home. For 18 months, Grahame remained at home and attended Northwood secondary school in Hillingdon, west London, before she started losing weight again. She was readmitted to Collingham Gardens, where she stayed for six months, and was then taken to Great Ormond Street Hospital, where she was placed on a psychiatric and eating disorders ward.
Grahame refused to willingly accept treatment and commented; "I was on a mission to starve myself to death ... I was obsessed". This culminated in several suicide bids. At the age of 12, she stole a packet of paracetamol tablets from the hospital's supplies and swallowed some. Shortly after, her weight drastically dropped and she fell into a coma; at one stage, her doctors predicted she was minutes from death. After this incident, Grahame was force-fed through a tube that was stitched inside her stomach but when she regained consciousness, she continuously tried to remove the feeding apparatus.
Grahame was eventually admitted to Rhodes Farm, an eating disorders clinic in Mill Hill, North London, and after six months, she began showing signs of improvement. She commented; "I woke up one morning and thought, 'What are you doing to yourself?'" At the age of 16, her weight had increased and she was released from the clinic. Grahame relapsed when she was 18, and spent time in an adult eating disorder ward. In the process of overcoming her eating disorder, she developed obsessive-compulsive disorder involving a chronic fear of germs.
Career
2003–2005: Early media appearances
Before Grahame appeared on Big Brother, she appeared as an extra in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders and played a footballer's wife in Sky One's Dream Team. In 2003, she was a contestant on the ITV dating show Blind Date. Grahame, who had earned an NVQ in beauty therapy, took part in the 2004 Miss Hertfordshire pageant, where she came fourth.
2006: Big Brother 7
In May 2006, Grahame registered as a contestant on the seventh series of the Channel 4 reality television series Big Brother, in which she became known for her behaviour such as temper tantrums, Diary Room theatrics, and becoming romantically linked to Pete Bennett, the winner of the series. During her Big Brother tenure, tabloid newspapers reported Grahame had suffered from anorexia nervosa for most of her adolescence and several times had attempted suicide by taking an overdose of paracetamol. Media criticised the programme's decision to include a contestant with prior mental health issues; experts said she should not have been allowed to take part. However, Grahame herself admitted in her autobiography that she intentionally withheld her diagnoses and psychiatric history from the Big Brother team, and only admitted the truth when she was already in the House and struggling.