Jade Goody Programme on channel 4

[Witchofzog]

I was never a big fan of hers but this show is making me feel very sad. Jade was in her own way quite vulnerable and naive and she was treated horribly by the press. She did some stupid things on camera including stripping off (though the other contestants made no effort to tell her it wasn't the best idea and that awful Kate whatsherface looked positively gleeful) but I feel for her more now than I did then.

And to think she was so full of life and was taken so young is just heart breaking

[Mermaidoutofwater]

I think the way she was treated on BB and by the media would be considered unacceptable today. I definitely agree that she was vulnerable. Not sure about FAS though, isn’t that just speculation?

[Thegreymethod]

I liked her I thought she was really great fun and yes she had an awful start in life and the way she cared for her boys, she absolutely adored them and did everything to ensure they had the loveliest childhood. It was devastating what happened to her.
The press were awful to her and actually how she acted on big brother (the first time) was outrageous at the time but I don't think people would even think twice about it now. The second time she was in BB I felt like those two awful girls Danielle Lloyd and whatever her name was from sclub 7 set her up royally they were just as bad as jade encouraged her then sat back and let her take the blame. I hope they've always felt some kind of guilt for that.

[Triglesoffy]

@Skrowten. She was too young to be called for routine screening. It was only after she died that calls were made to lower the age.

[katewhinesalot]

I think she turned out to be quite a savvy business woman didn't she?

[Gatoadigrado]

I don’t find anything particularly likeable about her. But I think her mother is far worse... she knows she was a total failure as a mum but still courts publicity on the back of it.

[MammaMia19]

I haven’t seen the documentary yet. I do think she took more of her fair share of the blame whilst the other two girls got away with it. I’m not sure if id call her racist more incredibly ignorant.
The press was awful to her and she had a tragic life.
I loved her in big brother and remember that too tight pink satin dress she came out in. Never bought her perfume but remember it being popular.
I think jeff did the right thing raising the boys out of the spotlight and they seem well adjusted from the few instances they’ve been in the public eye

[Anotherusefulname]

I wasn't a fan. I found it hard to find her likable - however the way she dealt with her illness and led to more young women getting their smears done was admirable.

[jay55]

Jade only got her health issues investigated at all because of Max Clifford, she had been fobbed off for years by medics who told her she didn't know what a normal period was, that her excessive bleeding was due to the slimming pills she had taken and every other push back excuse that women face.

[Rachelover40]

Jade was basically a very sweet girl and she had some talent; there was great potential. It was a tragedy that she died so young.

The programme was quite good.

[JustDanceAddict]

I had. Google of her cervical cancer timeline - apparently she ignored a letter re abnormal cells and went on Indian BB. With a history of abnormal bleeding that is not good.
She had pre-cancerous cells removed at 15 so she should’ve acted much quicker as she must’ve been aware of her gynae issues. Maybe she just didn’t want to move out of the limelight- I think Jeff intimated on the prog that she didn’t want to take her foot off pedal as media would move on.
I felt bad for her leaving her sons and dying young, but I can’t say I was a fan at the time (I was in my 30s and not a tabloid reader but did watch BB). Times were different then - some of the documentary was shocking.

[Gatoadigrado]

jay55 What do you mean she was fobbed off by the medics?

She said herself when it was apparent it was serious, that she’d had abnormal cells removed 3 times. And then ignored a letter telling her she needed further treatment. This was around the time when she was desperate to keep herself in the limelight, I think a very real fear for her was losing the media interest and becoming ‘nobody’ again.

By all account she had a huge amount of medical investigation considering she was still only in her 20s. She had multiple scans but it seems they didn’t show up any cancer for a long time so it was presumably a very aggressive fast cancer that she succumbed to in the end

Tragic, but don’t make out she was being ignored by the medics when the exact opposite appears to have been the case

[JoxerGoesToStuttgart]

Jade was basically a very sweet girl and she had some talent

Come on now, she was a bit of a bully. Not all sweetness and light. Also, what talent?

[Spidey66]

I have mixed feelings about her. In some ways she was brash and loud and racist...OTOH she had a shit childhood, was a hard worker and in many ways a savvy business woman, and she clearly wanted her kids to have a better childhood than she did. I think she dealt with her illness and prognosis very bravely.

I like Jeff Brazier, I think he's a good father to the boys. However the less said about Jack Tweedy the better.

[Slaymill]

I think she had a very damaged up bringing. Which affected her judgements later in life.

Though the racist remarks mainly name calling in BIG Brother were misguided and ignorant rather than the nastier stuff spouted by Jo O'Meara and Danielle Lloyd. She carried the can somewhat.

She adored her children and wanted to provide for them hence all the media deals while she was suffering the effects of her cancer treatment. Jeff has done a good job in bringing them up and I'm sure she would be proud of her boys.

[jay55]

It was in an interview she did in a magazine where she talked about the diet pills being named and being fibbed off. In a program about Max Clifford he talked about calling a friend and getting her an appointment, maybe those were untruths but they stuck with me for years.

[JoxerGoesToStuttgart]

I’d take anything max Clifford days with a pinch of salt. Especially when he’s saying stuff that makes him look like the big hero. “Oh it was me that sorted it all for her.” Sure max. Sure.

[bluebluezoo]

FAS? Not heard that before... source?

While she was vulnerable I get the impression it’s due to her upbringing rather than something like FAS- as pp have pointed out she was quite business savvy, it was a definite plan to get herself out of her home life (even her mother said she went on BB to get away from her and her drugs). She managed to make enough money to give her sons a comfortable life. Not someone with FAS level IQ.

I also thought her mum came across well. She took responsibility for Jade’s poor upbringing and seemed to have insight into the damage her lifestyle had caused. I hope she’s still clean and has a better life.

[IdaBWells]

I feel Jade was one of those people media and society enjoy building up and tearing down in an very hypocritical way. The mocking and self-righteousness from the press is sickening. Her weaknesses were exploited for entertainment value before she went on Celebrity BB, then when she and two other women showed the casual racism that is pretty rife in much of British society she carried the can and no national self-examination happened. She was a product of our society but we prefer to blame and shame her rather than examine that. I didn't watch the show but I read something where one of the presenters/producers said the dynamic of the three young women becoming almost a "gang" that bullied the Indian contestant would have been quickly stopped today. I am not saying that Jade wasn't responsible for her racism but it was very easy to not acknowledge that she was not unique. She was vilified as an ignorant working-class young woman, but I have heard and witnessed casual racism from all strata of British society - including those supposedly highly educated.

[AnneLovesGilbert]

I haven’t seen the documentary but did meet her once and she was really sweet in person if as loud as on tv. She always had an air of not really knowing what was going on around her but trying to go with it anyway.

It was a fascinating time though, they set her up, loved knocking her down and her funeral wasn’t far off the fanfare of Princess Di’s which was bizarre.

She was horribly racist and said some blindingly stupid things and got famous off it. Big brother culture. Glad it’s over.

[Inappropriatefemale]

It was a bit dramatic for the advert for the show to say ‘Jade Goody, the reality star who changed Britain’, what a lot of shite!

[Itstheprinciple]

I thought it was quite shocking what the tabloids got away with printing then. I always thought they were worse than ever now but actually I feel like the tide has begun to turn. (I know its still not perfect by any stretch but they wouldn't get away with half that stuff now)

[Glitterfisher]

I think the press were disgusting about her, I don't remember thing being that bad at the time, I probably didn't read papers much so with so much less social media I didn't see all that side. Her upbringing was awful.

From what I read she was fobbed off a couple of times, she had bleeding and because she'd had a previous miscarriage the Dr said it was another one, this was just before the eventual diagnosis. Whatever happened it was very sad, unfortunately she had lots of issues medically from a young age so quite possibly nothing would have changed the outcome unfortunately.

One thing that really struck me was that she told her mum when she was dying that she thought she got cancer as a punishment for what she did in the BB house. Shilpa Shetty specifically said she did not think Jade was racist and even tried to visit her when she was ill but Jade was too sick to see her.

I do think she made some mistakes, more than most probably, but I genuinely think she tried her best which was never going to be as good as some due to her upbringing.

[Glitterfisher]

Inappropriatefemale - I guess the title is referring to how the media/public saw reality stars and how she was the first one that really shot to massive fame from nothing, also regarding the medical issues she brought into the public eye, I didn't read any more into it than that, if that's the case then it's true. Maybe i am being naive though.

[CSIblonde]

I think it's a sad indictment of reality TV & it's effect on those involved: who are very often vulnerable & wholly unequipped to deal with the fallout of Z list 'stardom' . The TV studio's legal 'Duty of Care' for their mental health is only as long as the show lasts, then their on their own.

[Glitterfisher]

I agree it has been like that but hopefully things are improving, you only have to look at the difference between how different say S2 of Love Island was compared to S5, it was brutal, I would like to believe that they have improved the after care.

The producers who selected Jade made it pretty clear in the documentary they thought she would struggle but would be entertaining, if they had given a shit about her then they wouldn't have put her on there given her background.