Welsh glamour model and Big Brother star Imogen Thomas says her friend and cast-mate Nikki Grahame was so ill before she died that she couldn't walk up stairs. In a moving tribute to her pal as the first anniversary of Nikki's passing approaches, Imogen recalled Nikki's fun and "mischievous" side and gave an insight into Nikki's fight with the eating disorder anorexia.
She also revealed that she tried to intervene and have Nikki sectioned in a desperate attempt to save her life. In an interview with The Sun, she told how Nikki would play pranks on other patients at the hospital where she was being treated for anorexia.
She said: "She was so mischievous, that girl. She was always up to no good! I’d go to visit her at the hospital, even when I wasn’t meant to, and stand by the window so we could talk. Once, she told me she’d hid the scales under another patient’s bed. I’d say, ‘Babe you’re going to get her into trouble!'"
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Recalling the pair's wild antics, Imogen told The Sun : "We would go out for two days straight. She’d still be up, even when she was sick. She could drink me under the table — and I’m Welsh! But then I’d say, ‘Enough you can’t have any more because she was so thin’. I felt like a giant next to Nik."
Nikki sadly died after a life-long battle with anorexia on April 9, 2021. She was just 38 years old. She passed away in her sleep at home following a conversation with her mum Susan, who she had a very close relationship with.
Whilst Imogen and Nikki met back in 2006, the pair had kept their friendship going for 15 years and Imogen was heartbroken at the loss of her friend last year. It's understood Nikki's condition had deteriorated during the UK lockdowns as gyms were forced to close for a long period of time, causing Nikki to relapse with her eating disorder.
"She deteriorated so much, she didn’t have any control over it, she was so ill," Imogen told The Sun. "When she tried to walk up the stairs she couldn’t move her legs and had to pick them up with her hands. She called me a few weeks before she died saying she wanted to die."
"She didn’t want to be anorexic, she really did want to fight this but there was a part in her head that just couldn’t do it. "She always said the hospital made her worse. The patients would have a competition to see who can be the thinnest. I tried to get her sectioned. She hated me for that!"
Paying tribute to her friend, Imogen added: "Nik loved to party and she was the life and soul. Both being single, we had such a laugh! She achieved so much in life.
Imogen's comments come after Nikki's mum Sue poured her heart out about her daughter's disease and final days to OK! magazine. Thinking back to Nikki's childhood, Sue said: "I started to bring Nikki home from school at lunchtime so I could supervise her meals, as from day one it was like she was an experienced anorexic. It was like it was always there, waiting to come out, and she knew all the tricks to avoid eating."
"By the time she was almost nine, Nikki couldn’t go to school any more. She was tired all the time. One day I had her on my lap and I’m ashamed to say I did try to force food in her mouth. I was so desperate. When that didn’t work she tried to go upstairs to her bedroom and she had to crawl on her hands and knees. I thought, 'This is it – she needs help.'"
She continued: "Nikki had a break from her anorexia when she went into the Big Brother house and I’ll always be grateful for that because she deserved it. She missed out on her childhood because she was in and out of clinics and hospitals. Ironically, in that house, she got to be free. I am still in contact with friends Nikki made on that show, like Imogen Thomas, and they’re honestly a blessing.
"Fame was not a problem for Nikki. She felt loved by her fans and she really enjoyed everything that followed her time on Big Brother. She won a TV award, she got to be in her own show… she really thrived because everyone had got to know who she was outside of her brutal illness. She was funny, kind, hilarious… everyone got to see it and she felt accepted."
Paying tribute to her daughter, she added: "I am so proud of everything she achieved. She was the best and I’m so lucky that she was my girl. She never felt like a victim – she was always so strong and brave. Before she died, I promised Nikki a trip away wherever she liked. We were going to go to Tahiti or Hawaii together. This year, I’ll go to Hawaii without her and scatter some of her ashes in the warm sand, maybe even in the sea. I think she’d like that – a warm and beautiful place to rest. I need that too, to get some closure."
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