Big Brother’s Pete Bennett has paid tribute to his series seven co-star and ex-girlfriend Nikki Grahame in an emotional video after her representative confirmed the tragic news that she passed away last week following a long battle with anorexia.
Pete and Nikki both rose to fame on the Channel 4 show in 2006 and briefly dated in the outside world. Although their romance came to an end a month after they left the house, Pete and Nikki remained close friends.
In his latest Instagram post, a tearful Pete held up a bottle of wine as he celebrated “a true winner”.
He said, “For Nikki Grahame, all the love from us at Big Brother 7. We loved you, Nik.
“You were a true winner. You were great, you were beautiful, you rocked it, mate. Just wanna say, we’ll miss you, babe.
“Safe, man. See you later, Nikki.”
CHECK OUT Big Brother series seven - where are they now?
Big Brother series seven: where are they now? slider
1 of 20Pete Bennett
Pete was the first housemate to enter the Big Brother house, and made quite an entrance by falling down he stairs. He was also the last to leave after winning the show with a landslide 61% of the vote.
2 of 20Pete Bennett now
Pete's now an actor, starring in a show called Green Fingers on Amazon Prime. In late 2020, he's appearing in a Catherine Tate film, This Nan's Life.
3 of 20Glyn Wise
Remember Glyn? Only vaguely? Us too, yet he came second on the show after a whopping 93 days in the house. Blimey.
4 of 20Glyn Wise now
Glyn stood as Plaid Cymru's candidate in Cardiff Central in 2016 but resigned from the party later that year.
5 of 20Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace
Aisleyne divided opinion among the Big Brother housemates, she was voted to be sent to the House Next Door in week six, but she was popular with viewers and ended in a very respectable third place.
6 of 20Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace now
Aisleyne is the biggest monetary success story of her series and is worth an estimated cool £4.3m. She's still a darling of the tabloids and, honestly? We're still a little bit in love with her.
7 of 20Richard Newman
Another housemate who stirred up mixed feelings in the house, Richard survived eviction a whopping six times. He wound up in fourth place.
8 of 20Richard Newman not really now tbh
It's remarkably difficult to find an up-to-date snap of Richard (rude) so here's a jolly picture of him and fellow housemate Lea Walker. He went on to present a show on Gaydar radio for two years after the show.
9 of 20Nikki Grahame
One of the most iconic Big Brother contestants of all time, Nikki Grahame was booted out of the house on day 58 but was put back in on day 83. She ended up in fifth place which is weird considering her "WHO IS SHE?" rant is still common parlance.
10 of 20Nikki Grahame now
Since leaving Big Brother, Nikki has done a whole lot more Big Brother, including Ultimate Big Brother (she came second to Brian Dowling) and Big Brother Canada 4 (she lasted a whopping 59 days).Nikki tragically passed away in April 2020 following a long battle with anorexia.
11 of 20Jennie Corner
Look, we're going to level with you here. We don't remember anything about Jennie's time in the house and yet she was part of the finale and came in sixth place after 49 days in the house.
12 of 20Jennie Corner...still in 2006
Jennie's post-Big Brother life seems to have been lived out of the spotlight (as is her absolute right). She did a saucy photoshoot for now defunct lads' mag Zoo, posted some tweets in 2013 but other than that...nada.
13 of 20Imogen Thomas
Miss Wales 2003, Imogen lasted 86 days in the Big Brother house, just missing out on a place in the finale.
14 of 20Imogen Thomas
Unlike Jennie, Imogen has very much kept herself in the public eye. Her most notorious moment was when her alleged affair with Ryan Giggs was subject to a gagging order in 2011.
15 of 20Mikey Dalton and Grace Adams-Short
Grace and Mikey got together on the show, although when Grace left on day 30, Mikey stayed on and clocked up 79 days in the house.
16 of 20Mikey Dalton and Grace Adams-Short now
There can't have been any hard feelings though: the pair married in 2009 and are...still together.
17 of 20Lea Walker
Lea once claimed to have the biggest boobs in Britain. Ah, mems. The big busted former porn star, who we were HUGE fans of, was evicted on day 51 but returned for three days at the end of the show's run.
18 of 20Lea Walker now
Lea presented a radio show with Richard for two years (see above). She now has an OnlyFans account, as is the modern way and, from Twitter, seems as feisty and opinionated as ever. Hooray!
19 of 20Sezer Yurtseven
Sezer was the second person to be evicted from the house (after Bonnie Holt) but the fifth to leave after two housemates walked in the first two weeks (Shahbaz Chauhdry and George Askew) and Dawn Blake was ejected for apparently breaking the rules.
20 of 20Sezer Yurtseven now
Sezer's had quite the glow up since leaving the house. He know describes as a homeless campaigner which just adds to the phwoar factor.
Alongside the heartfelt post, Pete wrote, “I’m gutted, we have lost a true character, my BB7 posse feel like we’ve lost a family member, our series just wouldn’t [have] been the same without her!
“Even through our ups and downs we have still remained close through the years, and it was so nice to visit again recently with my girlfriend, sing Kate Bush songs and have fun like the good old days! I’m just sad that it was the last song we ever sang 😔.
“Thank you for the memories my friend, you will sorely be missed, I hope you’re not hurting anymore and finally at peace.”
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Tributes have been flooding in from Nikki’s Big Brother housemates including Glyn Wise, who said he was “devastated” by the news of her passing.
He wrote, “A true icon and the real winner of Big Brother 7! I will always remember your laughter, your smile, your tantrums and bluntness. But more than anything I’ll remember your zest for life. I love you always Nikki xxx.”
Davina McCall, who hosted Big Brother between 2000 and 2010, added, “I am so desperately sad to hear about Nikki Graham x my thoughts are with her friends and family xx she really was the funniest, most bubbly sweetest girl x.”