Big Brother fans reach £25k target for Nikki Grahame’s ‘last hope’ anorexia treatment

Big Brother fans have raised £27,000 for Nikki Grahame to receive vital treatment for anorexia.

Nikki’s friends set up a GoFundMe page in the hopes of raising £25,000 for a month of treatment for her eating disorder at a private clinic such as The Priory, explaining that the basic treatment Nikki is receiving from the NHS is no longer working.

After Rylan Clark-Neal shared the fundraiser on Twitter, with permission from Nikki, the goal of £25,000 was met, two days after the page was created.

Rylan and Vanessa Feltz were among those who gave £500 to the cause.

The target has now been raised to £50,000 as donations to get Nikki the help she needs keeping rolling in.

The GoFundMe, set up by Nikki’s friends Carly and Leon, who explained that private treatment was the reality star’s ‘last hope’.

They wrote: ‘Over the past years Nikki’s family and friends have tried so desperately to get Nikki all the help possible through the NHS but unfortunately the treatments have failed and we have exhausted every avenue possible, and now Nik is unfortunately in a very bad way, this is now our last hope. ‘This is why we feel that getting her treatment in a specialist clinic is the only option left for her. 

‘We are praying this gives her the chance of kicking this illness to the curb once and for all. 
 
‘At the moment, Nikki constantly feels weak and is struggling on a day to day basis. She feels trapped and really wants to get better but feels like it’s impossible. It’s heart-breaking and we desperately just want a healthy and well Nikki back with us. She has no energy and is taking each day as it comes.
 
‘Mental health, as so many of you know, is debilitating in many ways. We want to help save our friend from letting this Illness beat her. If you are able to donate anything then we would be extremely grateful.’

Nikki gave permission for the fundraiser to be set up, and her friends added that they would be walking the bridges of London as soon as coronavirus restrictions allow it to raise funds.

Now 38 years old, Nikki became an instant star when she appeared on the seventh series of Big Brother back in 2006, with her tantrums and ‘who is she?’ catchphrase cementing her as an all-time reality TV great.

She has battled anorexia since she was eight years old, when she dropped to a dangerous weight after being called fat by a fellow pupil in gymnastic class and dealing with her grandfather’s death and her parents’ separation.

Over the next 11 years, Nikki entered seven institutions and once was sedated for a fortnight while doctors sewed a tube into her stomach to feed her.

While she recovered when she was 19, Nikki has been open about relapsing on a number of occasions, and is unable to conceive naturally as she has never had a period due to her illness.

Nikki wrote about her struggle with anorexia in two books – Dying To Be Thin and Fragile.

People with anorexia – an eating disorder and mental illness – try to keep their weight as low as possible by not eating enough or exercising too much, or both.

They often have a distorted image of their bodies, thinking they are overweight when they are underweight.

It can lead to muscle and bone issues, problems with the heart, blood vessels, brain and nerves, kidney and bowel issues, fertility problems and a weakened immune system, and is one of the leading causes of deaths related to mental health problems.

Donations to Nikki’s fundraiser can be made here.

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