Imogen Thomas has paid tribute to her friend Nikki Grahame ahead of the one-year anniversary of her tragic death on Saturday and revealed how she became so frail in her final weeks, she couldn't walk up the stairs.
Big Brother star Nikki lost her battle to anorexia aged 38 last year, a day after being discharged from hospital after putting on weight.
Imogen, who first became friends with Nikki on the 2006 series, reflected on their time spent together and how she even tried to get Nikki sectioned to save her life.
Imogen revealed how the bubbly TV star, who suffered from the eating disorder since the age of eight, relapsed when gyms closed during the pandemic in 2020.
She told The Sun : "She deteriorated so much, she didn’t have any control over it, she was so ill.
"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."
Imogen said she became so concerned about Nikki, she tried to get her sectioned but Nikki refused to go to hospital, telling her it made her condition worse because "the patients would have a competition to see who can be the thinnest".
As Nikki's health deteriorated, her friend Leon Dee started a GoFundMe to fund private treatment after Nikki "exhausted every option" on the NHS - raising more than £70,000.
The star was admitted to hospital after she had a fall in a pharmacy and fractured her lower spine.
"She was in a pharmacy when she fell and fractured her lower spine," her mother Sue revealed to OK! recently. "She rang me crying and said, 'I’ve had an accident – I’ve collapsed and fallen on my back.'
"On the first day in hospital, two doctors said her condition was life-threatening. Her weight was the lowest it had ever been since she reached adulthood."
Nikki managed to gain 4kg and felt motivated to go to recovery clinic after seeing the outpouring of support from generous fans online.
However, a day after being discharged from hospital Nikki sadly passed away.
Paying tribute, Imogen described her friend as "so mischievous" and the "life and soul of the party".
The former reality star is planning on marking what would have been her 40th birthday later this month on the beach with an expresso martini in hand in her honour.
