Nikki Grahame - Who Is She?

[manysummersago]

Has anyone seen this? Catching up now.

Just extremely sad

I watched it last night, so sad and heartbreaking. One of the many lost during the covid pandemic to serious illnesses

I watched it. I always liked Nikki and she was so open about her illness. I thought the programme was really interesting and well done.

Her poor mum

She used to really irritate me when she was in Big Brother but I was a lot younger then. I ‘understand’ her a lot better now, which sounds strange given I’ve never met her but I suppose I see her now.

I've just watched it and come on here to see if there was a thread about it. I thought it was really interesting but so sad.
I'd never considered how being in Big Brother gave her a sense of safety. Also, that the impact of the lockdown has been so detrimental in so many different ways.

Really want to watch this but need to do so at a time when DD (16), who is recovering from Anorexia, is not around. How long is the program?

It’s an hour @Rollergirl11

I agree, it was just so sad. Some lovely recollections / tributes from people though, to her. And yes, I feel so desperately sorry for her Mum.

She will always be the iconic BB housemate!

This was utterly heartbreaking to watch. Those pictures of her at the end made me sob.

So many many years that she suffered with anorexia. Her conversations in the BB house with Vanessa when she talked about how anorexia was her friend because it was always with her and loyal to her was just so so sad to hear.

I know there have been some that criticized why she was allowed to go on BB. It was obvious from the start how vulnerable she was and her issues with food. So it was interesting to hear that BB was her safe place. I also though it was interesting that the psychiatrist woman said that she still behaved like a little girl because her anorexia started so young that she essentially lost her childhood due to being in and out of treatment centres from such a young age.

Not sure what to put, she was an intriguing character.

And my condolences for her passing, couldn't believe it when saw it in the papers

My dd is anorexic , it is incredibly hard to get help ! She is complex like Nikki but in different ways . I'm scared to watch it as I know how it ends !

@manysummersago

Her poor mum

Hearing her mum speak about her, how she still goes to her flat, smells her dress and her teddy, was absolutely heartbreaking. Her grief was just so palpable. And the pictures of how she was at the end, completely tragic. She seemed a real fire cracker of a personality too so so sad for her family & friends

My teenage daughter also has anorexia and is currently in a residential unit.
It was a really hard watch (I cried all the way through) and it prompted a lot of questions from one of my younger children.
I’ve had many people tell me my daughter is ‘attention seeking’ by refusing to eat, we need more programmes like this to make people aware of how awful it is to cope with.
The lockdown and school closures definitely contributed for my DD and I can see how Nikki must have found it so tough.

@gunnersgold

My dd is anorexic , it is incredibly hard to get help ! She is complex like Nikki but in different ways . I'm scared to watch it as I know how it ends !

Nikki's friends and mum expressed this too gunnersgold how hard it is to get proper help. I am so sorry to hear your DD is going through this, you must feel so helpless as a parent I can't even imagine x what age is your DD?

My Dd has anorexia - thankfully she's in early recovery - (waves to roller) The photos of Nikki in the press at the time of her death were so distressing. I hope her mom is being supported - it is an awful awful illness and parents/carers have so many different roles to play - cheerleader, chief carer/nurse, jailor, advocate - its distressing and terrifying.

@3kidsareenough 18 !
The under 18 treatment plan was a sheet of paper with a list of foods for her to eat ! I mean do you think I haven't tried everything ffs ! Now she is 18 she doesn't want help and I can't make her ! 🙈

I watching with very little understanding of anorexia. I always thought it was about food, control and self loathing but came away from the documentary understanding that it's so much more complex than that.

I had never considered how much of a security, comfort and friend the condition is to someone. I know it's over simplifying it in the manner I am describing it but it must be do difficult for someone to need the comfort of it & the control of it while still wanting to be happy, wanting to live but needing to do everything that contradicts that.

It really is such a complex illness that it's supported or understood enough.

My heart goes out to you all that have children going through this. I watched this with my daughter as she's at an age where she is beginning to constantly assess her appearance and we both found it very educational that it's not just about controlling food. Sadly, it appears that anorexia is very misunderstood and the so called help available is just not good enough.

I watched it and cried my eyes out. I knew who she was and think I even watched the season of big brother she was in, but never really followed her so had no idea how ill she was until she died. Her poor mother talking about her death was heartbreaking.

The photos of her they showed were so shocking, I couldn't stop thinking about them. That poor poor women. I was also interested in the fact that BB was actually a really positive thing for her and it was the ending of all that which sent her spiralling to a certain extent. The scene where she was in therapy and described anorexia as a companion and something she was 'really really good at' was quite eye opening really.

It was disappointing that the therapist called 16 a healthy BMI though, the whole program could have been very triggering to people with eating disorders and I don't think that was responsible.

I felt so sad for her poor mum, who was so lovely and clearly did all she could to get Nikki well. I read in the paper she used to insist Nikki ate naked because otherwise she’d hide food in her clothes.

I liked Vanessa in it, she was like a second mum to Nikki and clearly ‘got her’. Their relationship was very sweet.

She annoyed me like hell in BB bit of course a lot of that was due to editing.

I noted Pete Bennett was not interviewed.

@Spidey66

I felt so sad for her poor mum, who was so lovely and clearly did all she could to get Nikki well. I read in the paper she used to insist Nikki ate naked because otherwise she’d hide food in her clothes.

I liked Vanessa in it, she was like a second mum to Nikki and clearly ‘got her’. Their relationship was very sweet.

She annoyed me like hell in BB bit of course a lot of that was due to editing.

I noted Pete Bennett was not interviewed.

I saw something on Twitter that he was still too distressed by her death to take part... didn't seem too fussed when he was posting photos of himself with her when she was very very poorly though.

Wonder why Davina wasn't involved.

It's so tragically sad , theirs a part of me that thinks even with the best treatment in the world she was never going to fully recover . It was just to ingrained. Her lovely mum . Whatever possessed the hospital to discharge her is just unbelievable.

I agree it was very well made, she was so courageous to be so open and honest about her anorexia, and you could tell she really wanted to recover- it just had too tight a grip. I do think that like physical illnesses some mental illnesses are untimely terminal with no cure for some people. So heartbreaking and I hope it does raise awareness of what is often a very misunderstood disease.

I've just watched and it was so upsetting seeing those photos at the end. I also noticed just how thin she always was as well though . I think the breast implants possibly made her appear curvier than she was but she was very thin even at her healthiest . I read her book and she was so poorly for years and years . The book is very triggering (she talks about doctors saying she was the most anorexic person they'd met or similar) and I believe writing the book did cause her to relapse . I don't think she ever quite recovered and it just shows what a terrifying illness it is. Anorexia had the highest mortality rate of any mental illness,