Nikki Grahame
Encyclopedia
Nicola Rachele-Beth Grahame (born 28 April 1982 in Watford
, Hertfordshire
) is an English
model
, columnist
and television personality, who rose to fame in the UK when she was chosen to be a housemate on Big Brother 7
in 2006. Grahame's conspicuous temper tantrum
s divided viewer opinion during her time on Big Brother and subsequently led to her being given her own reality television
show entitled Princess Nikki
. Grahame won a National Television Award for most popular TV contender in 2006, and featured in a series of advertisements for Domino's Pizza
. As of 2007, Grahame writes a regular column in OK!
's "Hot Stars" magazine. She appeared in the tenth series of Big Brother, competing in a Silent Disco task against Karly Ashworth, as part of the Big Brother UK Tenth Anniversary Celebrations. After entering the UK Big Brother house again in 2010 she placed 2nd in Ultimate Big Brother.
Grahame spent most of her adolescence
in psychiatric hospitals, battling with the eating disorder
anorexia nervosa
, a condition that left her coma
tose and near death at the age of 12.
. Grahame was raised by her mother, Susan, after her parents' separation. Grahame attended Northwood School, Potter Street, Northwood Hills, London. Grahame—who has been described as a "daddy's girl"—was greatly hurt by the split.
, 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 and after eight months she was allowed home. For 18 months Grahame remained at home and attended Northwood secondary school in Hillingdon, west London
, before her weight started dropping once again. She was readmitted to Collingham Gardens for six months and then to Great Ormond Street Hospital
in London where she was placed on a psychiatric and eating disorders ward.
Grahame refused to accept treatment willingly and has commented: “I was on a mission to starve myself to death...I was obsessed." This culminated in several suicide
bids, when at the age of 12, she stole a packet of paracetamol
from the hospital's supplies and swallowed 22 pills. Shortly after, Grahame's weight dropped so low that she fell into a coma and at one stage doctors predicted that she was minutes from death. Grahame was force-fed via a tube that was stitched inside her stomach, but when she regained consciousness she continuously tried to remove the feeding apparatus. She claims that her weight subsequently dropped to 2 stones 9 lb (37 lbs).
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 Grahame had increased her weight to 6st 4 lb (40 kg) and was released from the clinic, though she relapsed again aged 18 and spent time in an adult eating disorder ward. While she was overcoming her eating disorder, she developed obsessive-compulsive disorder
(in her case involving a chronic
fear of germ
s), which she still battles with today.
In October 2011, Grahame confirmed she had relapsed and was suffering from anorexia again. Stating she had checked into her 11th institution and weighed just 5st 8lb.
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
. In addition, Grahame, who has an NVQ in beauty therapy, also took part in the 2004 Miss Hertfordshire pageant, where she came fourth. Grahame had numerous jobs before she became publicly known, including working as a dancer, a promotions girl and a glamour model.
In August 2006, It was reported byThe News Of The World that Grahame had previously been employed as a high-class escort or 'vice girl'. Its alleged that one of her clients was the Babyshambles
frontman Pete Doherty
. Despite being paid £500, she denies having sexual intercourse with him, claiming that as soon as she heard she was to have sex with him she quit immediately, and that he was too altered by drugs
to perform anyway.
, entering the house wearing a pink playboy bunny
outfit. While on the show she became known for her histrionics (such as temper tantrums) and becoming romantically linked to the eventual winner of Series 7, Pete Bennett
.
During her stay in the Big Brother house, tabloid newspapers revealed that Grahame had battled with the eating disorder
anorexia
for the majority of her adolescence, and had attempted suicide
by taking an overdose of paracetamol
several times. The programme's decision to include a contestant with prior mental health issues was criticised in the media, with experts suggesting that she should not have been allowed to take part. In addition, various behaviour exhibited by Grahame—such as a high susceptibility to cold; eating food with a teaspoon; looking for reassurance about her body shape and an obsessive need for bottled water—have been directly linked to her anorexia. Endemol, the company behind Big Brother, were accused of endangering their contestant’s mental state in favour of viewing figures and Deanne Jade, founder of the National Centre Of Eating Disorders, branded them "scurrilous".
Grahame was nominated for eviction four times during her initial stay in the Big Brother house and was eventually evicted on Day 58, with 37.2% of the public vote. However, less than four weeks after her exit, she was voted back into the 'House Next Door' by 63% of the voting public, along with three other ex-housemates. She was then chosen to return to the main house by the surviving contestants and despite the fact that she had already been evicted, she was reinstated as an eligible housemate and was once again given the opportunity to receive the £100,000 prize handed out to the winner; a controversial move that prompted 2,700 viewers to complain to the premium rate phone watchdog, ICSTIS.
An ICSTIS regulator commented that the majority of complaining viewers believed that they were misled by the makers of Big Brother, as they were under the impression that they had voted to evict the ex-housemate permanently. In the wake of this, ICSTIS launched an inquiry which could have resulted in Channel 4
refunding an estimated £3 million to people who took part with phone or text votes. Despite ICSTIS ruling that Big Brother breached its guidelines and misled phone voters, Channel 4 was not made to refund viewers and was instead fined and forced to pay almost £50,000 in administrative costs.
In conjunction, tabloid newspapers reported on an alleged betting scandal, after it was revealed that thousands of pounds were staked on Grahame to win even after she was initially evicted from the show. Several mystery big cash bets were reportedly placed on Grahame at 1,000–1 after her eviction, sparking fears that insiders knew she was going back into the house and decided to cash in.
Grahame subsequently finished in fifth place, with 6.5% of the final vote. The crowd response was less positive than it had been at her prior eviction, where she seemingly left to unanimous chanting and cheers. Host Davina McCall
attempted to interview her but Grahame was reluctant to speak, claiming that she was scared and shocked by the "boos" from the crowd. Grahame's live interview was subsequently cut short and she was eventually led off the stage.
Since the series' final, the Channel 4
chief, Kevin Lygo
, has admitted that Big Brother executives feared Grahame would win—sparking further backlash from angry viewers. He added that the idea, which divided producers, was to spice up the “sometimes dull” final week.
, which is normally presented by Debra Stephenson
. Grahame has also co-presented alongside Iain Lee
on several episodes of his show Celebrity Soup
, which aired on the satellite channel E! Entertainment Television.
During the time after her first eviction a Simple Life
-esque reality TV series was announced in which Grahame would star. The programme followed her attempts to hold down an everyday job and was apparently inspired by her disastrous turn as a PA
in a Big Brother task assigned to housemates. The show, Princess Nikki
, premiered on E4
on 6 September and ran for six weeks.
Grahame won a National Television Award
for Most Popular TV Contender on 31 October 2006, beating former boyfriend Pete Bennett
, Chantelle Houghton
, Richard Fleeshman
and Carol Thatcher
. Grahame was the only nominee from this category who was not a reality television show winner. In addition, Grahame was the 12th most 'written about' person of 2006 in the UK, along with Pete Bennett, according to Channel 4's 2006 Fame Review, a televised poll which equates fame to newspaper column inches.
In February 2007, Grahame began fronting a media campaign for the launch of Domino's
Meateor Pizza, which included television advertising and online promotion.
Grahame makes personal appearances, which includes participation in various television shows such as Celebrity Scissorhands
and 8 out of 10 Cats
, and appearances at student
nights and clubs. On 24 March 2007, Grahame appeared on a special "Goodies and Baddies" edition of the game show The Weakest Link
. During round three, she was the strongest link of the team (answered the most questions correctly and earned the most money), but was eliminated in round five after then becoming the weakest link of the team. Grahame took part in the Soccer Six charity tournament at Wrexham's
Racecourse Ground
in May 2007.
In June 2007, Grahame returned to the Big Brother franchise but this time as a reporter for its spin-off show, Big Brother's Little Brother. Known as "The B-Team", Grahame and several other former housemates were sent to various venues to interview people about their opinions on Big Brother 8
. Grahame also had a Big Brother column in the glossy magazine, OK!
, where she discussed her thoughts on the series. In September 2007 Grahame was given a regular column in OK!
's "Hot Stars" section, a free pull out magazine, where she writes her views on celebrities and recent events.
In the autumn of 2008, Grahame announced that she was writing a book called "Dying To Be Thin" to help anorexia sufferers and is thinking of making a documentary about her experiences, because she wants "young girls to know the long-term effects of anorexia, what it does to your body, to your mind, your family".
Grahame appeared during a task in Celebrity Big Brother 6 in 2009. In July 2009, Grahame entered the Big Brother house again only for a few hours to perform a task against one of the current housemates at the time. In May 2010 Grahame auditioned for a part in the Australian soap opera Neighbours as the character Poppy Rogers by sending in a video taped audition to the competition Be A Star On Neighbours.
in the final vote. Grahame's final placing was three higher than her placing in Big Brother 7.
During Grahame's time in Ultimate Big Brother she appeared to be more comfortable discussing her issues with anorexia, in particular she opened up to Vanessa Feltz
who has also had problems with her weight. Grahame claimed that she wanted to be a role model to people with anorexia, so she can show people that it is possible to move on from the disorder.
In total, Grahame spent a total of 87 days in the Big Brother house, combining 69 days in Big Brother 7 and 18 days in Ultimate Big Brother.
At the age of 18 Grahame was given breast implants on the NHS
, because her years of anorexia
had left her flat-chested. In April 2007 Grahame revealed that she had undergone corrective plastic surgery on her breast implants in order to fix "ripples" left by the first operation. As a result of her eating disorder, Grahame has brittle bone disease osteoporosis
, as her bones did not form properly and have been left permanently weakened as a result. She takes calcium supplements and has a diet rich in dairy foods to prevent it getting worse.
Grahame famously dated the winner of Big Brother 7
, Pete Bennett
. The duo's romance began in the last week of Big Brother, following Grahame's return to the show. However in September 2006 she went public with the news that Bennett had made the decision to end their relationship, just over a month after it began. Bennett told her that he found it tough having a relationship in the spotlight and just wanted to be friends. Grahame commented "I still want to be with him. Sadly he doesn't want to be with me. I will just have to accept that. I have to let go."
Grahame began dating Guy Mesigan, a part-time model and carpenter
, at the end of 2006. They split in May 2007. In February 2009 Grahame was injured in a car accident; she suffered cracked ribs and needed stitches on her head. Grahame was in the back seat of a car and was thrown forwards when the driver braked suddenly. Grahame wasn't wearing a seatbelt, her agent said "There was blood everywhere. It was a nasty crash".
Watford
Watford is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, situated northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. The borough is separated from Greater London to the south by the urbanised parish of Watford Rural in the Three Rivers District.Watford was created as an urban...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
) is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
, columnist
Columnist
A columnist is a journalist who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs....
and television personality, who rose to fame in the UK when she was chosen to be a housemate on Big Brother 7
Big Brother (UK series 7)
Big Brother 7 in 2006 was the seventh series of the United Kingdom reality television series Big Brother. It aired on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, from 18 May 2006 to 18 August 2006, a total of 93 days; fifteen days longer than the previous series....
in 2006. Grahame's conspicuous temper tantrum
Tantrum
A tantrum is an emotional outburst, usually associated with children or those in emotional distress, that is typically characterized by stubbornness, crying, screaming, yelling, shrieking, defiance, angry ranting, a resistance to attempts at pacification and, in some cases, violence...
s divided viewer opinion during her time on Big Brother and subsequently led to her being given her own reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
show entitled Princess Nikki
Princess Nikki
Princess Nikki is a reality television show that stars former Big Brother 7 UK house mate, Nikki Grahame. It ran on Wednesday nights between 10:00 - 10:30pm on the digital and satellite television channel E4 from 6 September 2006, for a total runtime of 30 minutes. The show was devised by Endemol,...
. Grahame won a National Television Award for most popular TV contender in 2006, and featured in a series of advertisements for Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza, Inc. is an international pizza delivery corporation headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America. Founded in 1960, Domino's is the second-largest pizza chain in the United States and has over 9,000 corporate and franchised stores in 60 countries and all 50 U.S....
. As of 2007, Grahame writes a regular column in OK!
OK!
OK! is a British weekly magazine specializing in celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly, its first issue was published in April 1993. In September 2004, OK! publishers Northern and Shell launched in Australia as a monthly title – the magazine went weekly in October 2006...
's "Hot Stars" magazine. She appeared in the tenth series of Big Brother, competing in a Silent Disco task against Karly Ashworth, as part of the Big Brother UK Tenth Anniversary Celebrations. After entering the UK Big Brother house again in 2010 she placed 2nd in Ultimate Big Brother.
Grahame spent most of her adolescence
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
in psychiatric hospitals, battling with the eating disorder
Eating disorder
Eating disorders refer to a group of conditions defined by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual's physical and mental health. Bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating disorder are the most common specific...
anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight and an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Although commonly called "anorexia", that term on its own denotes any symptomatic loss of appetite and is not strictly accurate...
, a condition that left her coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
tose and near death at the age of 12.
Early life
Grahame has described her childhood as the "happiest ever", however a series of upsets followed, when at the age of eight, her parents divorced and her grandfather, whom she was extremely close to, died from cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. Grahame was raised by her mother, Susan, after her parents' separation. Grahame attended Northwood School, Potter Street, Northwood Hills, London. Grahame—who has been described as a "daddy's girl"—was greatly hurt by the split.
Anorexia nervosa
Grahame's disorder continued to escalate until her parents had her admitted to the children’s eating disorders unit at the Maudsley psychiatric hospital in London. She was kept in for six weeks and then released, however she continued to starve herself and several months later she was rushed to an emergency unit at Hillingdon HospitalHillingdon Hospital
Hillingdon Hospital is an NHS hospital, located in Pield Heath Road, Hillingdon, Greater London. It is a general hospital serving the local area, providing a wide variety of services including Accident and Emergency , In-patients, Day Surgery and Outpatient Clinics...
, where she was force-fed
Force-feeding
Force-feeding is the practice of feeding a person or an animal against their will. "Gavage" is supplying a nutritional substance by means of a small plastic tube passed through the nose or mouth into the stomach, not explicitly 'forcibly'....
through a nasal tube. She was then transferred to Collingham Gardens child and family psychiatric unit in west London, where her weight was increased and after eight months she was allowed home. For 18 months Grahame remained at home and attended Northwood secondary school in Hillingdon, west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, before her weight started dropping once again. She was readmitted to Collingham Gardens for six months and then to Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children is a children's hospital located in London, United Kingdom...
in London where she was placed on a psychiatric and eating disorders ward.
Grahame refused to accept treatment willingly and has commented: “I was on a mission to starve myself to death...I was obsessed." This culminated in several suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
bids, when at the age of 12, she stole a packet of paracetamol
Paracetamol
Paracetamol INN , or acetaminophen USAN , is a widely used over-the-counter analgesic and antipyretic . It is commonly used for the relief of headaches and other minor aches and pains and is a major ingredient in numerous cold and flu remedies...
from the hospital's supplies and swallowed 22 pills. Shortly after, Grahame's weight dropped so low that she fell into a coma and at one stage doctors predicted that she was minutes from death. Grahame was force-fed via a tube that was stitched inside her stomach, but when she regained consciousness she continuously tried to remove the feeding apparatus. She claims that her weight subsequently dropped to 2 stones 9 lb (37 lbs).
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 Grahame had increased her weight to 6st 4 lb (40 kg) and was released from the clinic, though she relapsed again aged 18 and spent time in an adult eating disorder ward. While she was overcoming her eating disorder, she developed obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive–compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety, or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions...
(in her case involving a chronic
Chronic (medicine)
A chronic disease is a disease or other human health condition that is persistent or long-lasting in nature. The term chronic is usually applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months. Common chronic diseases include asthma, cancer, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.In medicine, the...
fear of germ
Microorganism
A microorganism or microbe is a microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters, or no cell at all...
s), which she still battles with today.
In October 2011, Grahame confirmed she had relapsed and was suffering from anorexia again. Stating she had checked into her 11th institution and weighed just 5st 8lb.
Career
Before Grahame rose to fame on Big Brother, she had appeared as an extra in the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, and played a footballer's wife in Sky One
Sky One
Sky1 is the flagship BSkyB entertainment channel available in the United Kingdom and Ireland.The channel first launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, and is the fourth-oldest TV channel in the United Kingdom, behind BBC One , ITV and BBC Two...
's Dream Team
Dream Team (TV series)
Dream Team is a British television series produced by Hewland International which aired on Sky1 and Sky3 from 1997 to 2007; it chronicled the on-field and off-field affairs of the fictional Harchester United Football Club....
. In 2003, she was a contestant on the ITV dating show Blind Date
Blind Date (UK TV series)
Blind Date is a British dating game show produced by London Weekend Television. An unscreened pilot was made with comic Duncan Norvelle as presenter but it was eventually hosted by Cilla Black, who already hosted the LWT series, Surprise, Surprise...
. In addition, Grahame, who has an NVQ in beauty therapy, also took part in the 2004 Miss Hertfordshire pageant, where she came fourth. Grahame had numerous jobs before she became publicly known, including working as a dancer, a promotions girl and a glamour model.
In August 2006, It was reported byThe News Of The World that Grahame had previously been employed as a high-class escort or 'vice girl'. Its alleged that one of her clients was the Babyshambles
Babyshambles
Babyshambles are an English indie rock band established in London. The band was formed by Pete Doherty during a hiatus from his former band The Libertines, but Babyshambles has since become his main project . Babyshambles has released two albums, three EPs and a number of singles...
frontman Pete Doherty
Pete Doherty
Peter Doherty is an English musician, writer, actor, poet and artist. He is best known musically for being co-frontman of The Libertines, which he reformed with Carl Barât in 2010. His other musical project is indie band Babyshambles...
. Despite being paid £500, she denies having sexual intercourse with him, claiming that as soon as she heard she was to have sex with him she quit immediately, and that he was too altered by drugs
DRUGS
Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows are an American post-hardcore band formed in 2010. They released their debut self-titled album on February 22, 2011.- Formation :...
to perform anyway.
Big Brother 7
In May 2006, Grahame became one of the contestants on the UK's seventh series of the reality television show Big BrotherBig Brother (UK)
Big Brother UK is the British version of the Dutch Big Brother television format, which takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1948 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four...
, entering the house wearing a pink playboy bunny
Playboy Bunny
A Playboy Bunny is a waitress at the Playboy Club. The Playboy Clubs were originally open from 1960 to 1988. The Club re-opened in one location in The Palms Hotel in Las Vegas in 2006...
outfit. While on the show she became known for her histrionics (such as temper tantrums) and becoming romantically linked to the eventual winner of Series 7, Pete Bennett
Pete Bennett
Peter "Pete" Alexander Bennett is an English singer, author and media personality, who won the reality television series Big Brother 7 in 2006. He has Tourette's syndrome...
.
During her stay in the Big Brother house, tabloid newspapers revealed that Grahame had battled with the eating disorder
Eating disorder
Eating disorders refer to a group of conditions defined by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual's physical and mental health. Bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating disorder are the most common specific...
anorexia
Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight and an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Although commonly called "anorexia", that term on its own denotes any symptomatic loss of appetite and is not strictly accurate...
for the majority of her adolescence, and had attempted suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by taking an overdose of paracetamol
Paracetamol
Paracetamol INN , or acetaminophen USAN , is a widely used over-the-counter analgesic and antipyretic . It is commonly used for the relief of headaches and other minor aches and pains and is a major ingredient in numerous cold and flu remedies...
several times. The programme's decision to include a contestant with prior mental health issues was criticised in the media, with experts suggesting that she should not have been allowed to take part. In addition, various behaviour exhibited by Grahame—such as a high susceptibility to cold; eating food with a teaspoon; looking for reassurance about her body shape and an obsessive need for bottled water—have been directly linked to her anorexia. Endemol, the company behind Big Brother, were accused of endangering their contestant’s mental state in favour of viewing figures and Deanne Jade, founder of the National Centre Of Eating Disorders, branded them "scurrilous".
Grahame was nominated for eviction four times during her initial stay in the Big Brother house and was eventually evicted on Day 58, with 37.2% of the public vote. However, less than four weeks after her exit, she was voted back into the 'House Next Door' by 63% of the voting public, along with three other ex-housemates. She was then chosen to return to the main house by the surviving contestants and despite the fact that she had already been evicted, she was reinstated as an eligible housemate and was once again given the opportunity to receive the £100,000 prize handed out to the winner; a controversial move that prompted 2,700 viewers to complain to the premium rate phone watchdog, ICSTIS.
An ICSTIS regulator commented that the majority of complaining viewers believed that they were misled by the makers of Big Brother, as they were under the impression that they had voted to evict the ex-housemate permanently. In the wake of this, ICSTIS launched an inquiry which could have resulted in Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
refunding an estimated £3 million to people who took part with phone or text votes. Despite ICSTIS ruling that Big Brother breached its guidelines and misled phone voters, Channel 4 was not made to refund viewers and was instead fined and forced to pay almost £50,000 in administrative costs.
In conjunction, tabloid newspapers reported on an alleged betting scandal, after it was revealed that thousands of pounds were staked on Grahame to win even after she was initially evicted from the show. Several mystery big cash bets were reportedly placed on Grahame at 1,000–1 after her eviction, sparking fears that insiders knew she was going back into the house and decided to cash in.
Grahame subsequently finished in fifth place, with 6.5% of the final vote. The crowd response was less positive than it had been at her prior eviction, where she seemingly left to unanimous chanting and cheers. Host Davina McCall
Davina McCall
Davina McCall is an English television presenter and actress, most notable as the presenter of the UK version of Big Brother up until its move to Channel 5.- Early life :...
attempted to interview her but Grahame was reluctant to speak, claiming that she was scared and shocked by the "boos" from the crowd. Grahame's live interview was subsequently cut short and she was eventually led off the stage.
Since the series' final, the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
chief, Kevin Lygo
Kevin Lygo
Kevin Lygo is a British television executive, presently head of studios at ITV.Educated at Cranbrook School, Kent, Lygo studied music at Durham University. On graduation he was one of three trainees to join the BBC, alongside Peter Salmon and multi-award-winning film-maker Peter Kosminsky...
, has admitted that Big Brother executives feared Grahame would win—sparking further backlash from angry viewers. He added that the idea, which divided producers, was to spice up the “sometimes dull” final week.
Media career after Big Brother 7
In between her two stays in the Big Brother House, Grahame presented the "Celebrity Spotting" section on one episode of The Friday Night ProjectThe Friday Night Project
The Sunday Night Project was a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title The Friday Night Project...
, which is normally presented by Debra Stephenson
Debra Stephenson
Debra Stephenson is an English actress, comedian, impressionist and singer.-Career:At the age of fourteen Stephenson appeared on BBC TV's Opportunity Knocks, winning her way through to the All-Winners' Final, broadcast live from the London Palladium...
. Grahame has also co-presented alongside Iain Lee
Iain Lee
Iain Lee is a British comedian, and a television and radio presenter. His career began when he performed stand-up comedy gigs across venues in London. He subsequently became co-presenter of the comedy current affairs show The 11 O'Clock Show on Channel 4 and RI:SE...
on several episodes of his show Celebrity Soup
Celebrity Soup
Celebrity Soup was a weekly comedy series focusing on recaps of various pop culture and reality show television highlights of the week. It was broadcast on E! Entertainment Television and was the UK version of the USA's long-running series The Soup...
, which aired on the satellite channel E! Entertainment Television.
During the time after her first eviction a Simple Life
The Simple Life
The Simple Life was a reality television series that was broadcast from December 2, 2003 to August 5, 2007. The first three seasons aired on Fox, and the final two on E!...
-esque reality TV series was announced in which Grahame would star. The programme followed her attempts to hold down an everyday job and was apparently inspired by her disastrous turn as a PA
Personal assistant
A personal assistant or personal aide is someone who assists in daily business or personal tasks. It is common in design to have a PDA, or personal design assistant....
in a Big Brother task assigned to housemates. The show, Princess Nikki
Princess Nikki
Princess Nikki is a reality television show that stars former Big Brother 7 UK house mate, Nikki Grahame. It ran on Wednesday nights between 10:00 - 10:30pm on the digital and satellite television channel E4 from 6 September 2006, for a total runtime of 30 minutes. The show was devised by Endemol,...
, premiered on E4
E4 (TV)
E4 is a channel on British digital television, launched as a pay-TV companion to Channel 4 on 18 January 2001. The "E" stands for entertainment, and the channel is mainly aimed at the lucrative 15–35 age group...
on 6 September and ran for six weeks.
Grahame won a National Television Award
National Television Awards
The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Because of the way the awards are decided, winners are...
for Most Popular TV Contender on 31 October 2006, beating former boyfriend Pete Bennett
Pete Bennett
Peter "Pete" Alexander Bennett is an English singer, author and media personality, who won the reality television series Big Brother 7 in 2006. He has Tourette's syndrome...
, Chantelle Houghton
Chantelle Houghton
Chantelle Vivien Houghton is an English glamour model and television personality. She was the first 'non-celebrity' to feature in the Channel 4 reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother in 2006....
, Richard Fleeshman
Richard Fleeshman
Richard Jonathan Fleeshman is an English actor and singer-songwriter. His television career began as a twelve year old, playing Craig Harris for four years in Coronation Street and most recently "All The Small Things"...
and Carol Thatcher
Carol Thatcher
Carol Thatcher is a British journalist, author and media personality. She is the daughter of Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, a former British Prime Minister, and Sir Denis Thatcher, Bt....
. Grahame was the only nominee from this category who was not a reality television show winner. In addition, Grahame was the 12th most 'written about' person of 2006 in the UK, along with Pete Bennett, according to Channel 4's 2006 Fame Review, a televised poll which equates fame to newspaper column inches.
In February 2007, Grahame began fronting a media campaign for the launch of Domino's
Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza, Inc. is an international pizza delivery corporation headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America. Founded in 1960, Domino's is the second-largest pizza chain in the United States and has over 9,000 corporate and franchised stores in 60 countries and all 50 U.S....
Meateor Pizza, which included television advertising and online promotion.
Grahame makes personal appearances, which includes participation in various television shows such as Celebrity Scissorhands
Celebrity Scissorhands
Celebrity Scissorhands is a reality show that is part of the BBC's Children in Need charity campaign, in which celebrities attempt to cut people's hair to raise money for the campaign while trained and watched by professional hairdresser Lee Stafford...
and 8 out of 10 Cats
8 Out of 10 Cats
8 out of 10 Cats is a television comedy panel game made by Zeppotron for Channel 4. It was first broadcast on 3 June 2005. The show is based on statistics and opinion polls, and draws on polls produced by a variety of organizations and new polls commissioned for the programme, carried out by...
, and appearances at student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
nights and clubs. On 24 March 2007, Grahame appeared on a special "Goodies and Baddies" edition of the game show The Weakest Link
Weakest Link
The Weakest Link is a British television quiz show, currently broadcast on BBC Two. It was devised by Mr Wilton and Euan Green and Cathy Dunning, and developed for television by the BBC Entertainment Department. It has since been replicated around the world. The UK version is hosted by Anne...
. During round three, she was the strongest link of the team (answered the most questions correctly and earned the most money), but was eliminated in round five after then becoming the weakest link of the team. Grahame took part in the Soccer Six charity tournament at Wrexham's
Wrexham A.F.C.
Wrexham Football Club are a professional football team based in Wrexham, north-east Wales, who play in the English football pyramid.Founded in 1872, they are one of the oldest surviving football clubs in Britain and the oldest professional club in Wales...
Racecourse Ground
Racecourse Ground
The Glyndŵr University Racecourse Stadium AKA The Racecourse Ground is a stadium located in Wrexham, North Wales. It is the home of Wrexham F.C. and, since 2010, the Crusaders Rugby League team who play in the engage Super League...
in May 2007.
In June 2007, Grahame returned to the Big Brother franchise but this time as a reporter for its spin-off show, Big Brother's Little Brother. Known as "The B-Team", Grahame and several other former housemates were sent to various venues to interview people about their opinions on Big Brother 8
Big Brother 2007 (UK)
Big Brother 2007 was the eighth series of the United Kingdom reality television programme Big Brother, airing on Channel 4, with a number of closely associated programmes also airing on E4....
. Grahame also had a Big Brother column in the glossy magazine, OK!
OK!
OK! is a British weekly magazine specializing in celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly, its first issue was published in April 1993. In September 2004, OK! publishers Northern and Shell launched in Australia as a monthly title – the magazine went weekly in October 2006...
, where she discussed her thoughts on the series. In September 2007 Grahame was given a regular column in OK!
OK!
OK! is a British weekly magazine specializing in celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly, its first issue was published in April 1993. In September 2004, OK! publishers Northern and Shell launched in Australia as a monthly title – the magazine went weekly in October 2006...
's "Hot Stars" section, a free pull out magazine, where she writes her views on celebrities and recent events.
In the autumn of 2008, Grahame announced that she was writing a book called "Dying To Be Thin" to help anorexia sufferers and is thinking of making a documentary about her experiences, because she wants "young girls to know the long-term effects of anorexia, what it does to your body, to your mind, your family".
Grahame appeared during a task in Celebrity Big Brother 6 in 2009. In July 2009, Grahame entered the Big Brother house again only for a few hours to perform a task against one of the current housemates at the time. In May 2010 Grahame auditioned for a part in the Australian soap opera Neighbours as the character Poppy Rogers by sending in a video taped audition to the competition Be A Star On Neighbours.
Ultimate Big Brother
On 24 August 2010, Grahame returned to Big Brother to compete in Ultimate Big Brother, where she was the only housemate to represent Big Brother 7 as a contestant. Grahame was nominated to face a double eviction in the second week of the show's run alongside five of her fellow housemates, Grahame survived the public vote after tallying less votes to evict than at least two of the other nominated housemates. On September 10 Grahame became the runner up in the show receiving a positive reaction from the crowd, after losing out to Big Brother 2 winner Brian DowlingBrian Dowling
Brian Patrick Robert Dowling is an Irish television presenter who rose to fame after being crowned the winner of the second series of UK reality television show Big Brother in 2001. He also won Ultimate Big Brother in 2010, making him the ultimate Big Brother housemate...
in the final vote. Grahame's final placing was three higher than her placing in Big Brother 7.
During Grahame's time in Ultimate Big Brother she appeared to be more comfortable discussing her issues with anorexia, in particular she opened up to Vanessa Feltz
Vanessa Feltz
Vanessa Jane Feltz is an English television personality, broadcaster and journalist. She currently presents an early morning radio show on BBC Radio 2, a mid morning phone-in show on BBC London 94.9. In 2011, she started hosting The Vanessa Show on Channel 5. The first series ended on June 24th...
who has also had problems with her weight. Grahame claimed that she wanted to be a role model to people with anorexia, so she can show people that it is possible to move on from the disorder.
In total, Grahame spent a total of 87 days in the Big Brother house, combining 69 days in Big Brother 7 and 18 days in Ultimate Big Brother.
Personal life
National Health Service (England)
The National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...
, because her years of anorexia
Anorexia nervosa
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by refusal to maintain a healthy body weight and an obsessive fear of gaining weight. Although commonly called "anorexia", that term on its own denotes any symptomatic loss of appetite and is not strictly accurate...
had left her flat-chested. In April 2007 Grahame revealed that she had undergone corrective plastic surgery on her breast implants in order to fix "ripples" left by the first operation. As a result of her eating disorder, Grahame has brittle bone disease osteoporosis
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density is reduced, bone microarchitecture is deteriorating, and the amount and variety of proteins in bone is altered...
, as her bones did not form properly and have been left permanently weakened as a result. She takes calcium supplements and has a diet rich in dairy foods to prevent it getting worse.
Grahame famously dated the winner of Big Brother 7
Big Brother (UK series 7)
Big Brother 7 in 2006 was the seventh series of the United Kingdom reality television series Big Brother. It aired on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, from 18 May 2006 to 18 August 2006, a total of 93 days; fifteen days longer than the previous series....
, Pete Bennett
Pete Bennett
Peter "Pete" Alexander Bennett is an English singer, author and media personality, who won the reality television series Big Brother 7 in 2006. He has Tourette's syndrome...
. The duo's romance began in the last week of Big Brother, following Grahame's return to the show. However in September 2006 she went public with the news that Bennett had made the decision to end their relationship, just over a month after it began. Bennett told her that he found it tough having a relationship in the spotlight and just wanted to be friends. Grahame commented "I still want to be with him. Sadly he doesn't want to be with me. I will just have to accept that. I have to let go."
Grahame began dating Guy Mesigan, a part-time model and carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
, at the end of 2006. They split in May 2007. In February 2009 Grahame was injured in a car accident; she suffered cracked ribs and needed stitches on her head. Grahame was in the back seat of a car and was thrown forwards when the driver braked suddenly. Grahame wasn't wearing a seatbelt, her agent said "There was blood everywhere. It was a nasty crash".
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | National Television Awards National Television Awards The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Because of the way the awards are decided, winners are... |
Most Popular TV contender | Winner |
See also
- List of Big Brother 7 housemates (UK series)