'CUT OFF'
Big Brother legend Nikki Grahame’s mum reveals all on her anorexia as ‘lonely’ star feared gaining weight in lockdown
NIKKI Grahame's devastated mum has revealed all on the star's tragic anorexia battle saying she feared gaining weight in lockdown.
The Big Brother legend's mother Sue appeared on This Morning today and told viewers her daughter's health battle was sparked when gyms closed as the star dreaded eating if she couldn't exercise.
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The reality star, 38, checked into a specialist facility last week after her desperate friends managed to raise enough cash to start paying for life-saving care.
And Sue told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield that gyms closing and Nikki's growing isolation as she lived alone triggered her relapse.
She said: "With Covid, it sounds crazy but stuff like gyms closing impacted her.
"In order for her to eat she needs to know she can exercise, so when they closed it was quite a worry, the isolation as well.
"I asked her if she would come and stay with me but she said she needs to be in her home."
"She was (suffering terminal loneliness) she felt very cut off and spending too much time on her own with not enough to think about other than food.
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"It all came to a grinding halt. Also for Nikki, she would muddle herself through the year knowing she's got friends abroad and she would visit them.
"She spent a lot of time last year cancelling holidays."
Nikki's mum also shared the moment she realised "something was wrong" with the star aged just seven years old, when they headed out for dinner as a family on Mothering Sunday.
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Signs and symptoms of anorexia
- if you're under 18, your weight and height being lower than expected for your age
- if you're an adult, having an unusually low body mass index
- missing meals, eating very little or avoiding eating any foods you see as fattening
- believing you are fat when you are a healthy weight or underweight
- taking medication to reduce your hunger (appetite suppressants)
- your periods stopping (in women who have not reached menopause) or not starting (in younger women and girls)
- physical problems, such as feeling dizzy, dry skin and hair loss
She said: "We had a lot of stuff going on. You know, my dad got very sick and of course that affected me and I think she was worried for me and I tried to put on a brave face.
"We had other things going on, my marriage broke up and my husband had struggles at work so I know (our home) wasn't a happy place.
"One point stands in my mind. She was seven and we went to a restaurant and Nikki stood beside me, she wouldn't actually sit, she was just beside me and it was around that time that I noticed, she started refusing to eat, that's the one thing that stuck in my mind."
Viewers shared their support on Twitter, as one said: "So much love for @NikkiGrahame & her incredible mum. Get well soon Nikki, you’ll be back again before you know it.";
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Nikki has now entered into a treatment facility in a bid to treat her anorexia.
Sue said Nikki had a message to fans, after Holly and and Phil said "you can do it Nikki".
Sue said: "I heard from Nikki this morning and she said, 'please stress how overwhelmed I am at people's kindness towards me. I am so grateful.'
"But she said 'also tell everybody I'm going to try my level best to beat this'."
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