Michelle Heaton ‘so sorry’ she didn’t visit Nikki Grahame before she died aged 38: ‘I was scared to see you’

Michelle Heaton has revealed she was too ‘scared’ to visit her late friend Nikki Grahame in her final days before she died.

Former Big Brother housemate Nikki died aged 38 in the early hours on Friday after a life-long battle with anorexia. She had been getting treatment for her eating disorder at a specialist clinic, fundraised by her fans and friends.

Tributes have been flooding in for the reality star and Liberty X singer Michelle addressed the news of her friend’s death in a poignant post shared on Instagram where she apologised for not going to see her.

‘Dear Nikki, I’m so sorry I didn’t come. I was scared to see you .. to say anything that may be a trigger to lose you.. I was a coward and I’m so sorry,’ she wrote in the caption, alongside a picture of her and Nikki.

‘I just listened to our voice notes, our messages, and the phone calls over the last few weeks ..I think I knew, and I was too weak to know.

‘Your last one, telling us you saw me on @lorraine & wished us all better and to call you. YOU thought of us even when on that day you were where you were! 🙌🏻’ (sic)

Michelle continued: ‘Nikki, I have so many memories, most I can’t not repeat 😁🙈 😉 The holidays, the events, Ireland 😉 Marbella 🙃

‘I just came across this one. Think it was the world music awards.. we went as a couple lol! (Coz we were not as famous as the others to get plus 1’s 😂)
hand on hip! wayyy to much fake tan.. pale lips thinking we look amazing.

‘Held our breath every time we had a picture coz we wanted to “look good” 😃 then landed in the press comparing us to trash .. as they do! But we didn’t care! Coz there was a FREE bar! Mini fish and chips going around!

‘Smoked salmon on soggy crispbread with crusty bits of wasabi (first time either of us had had smoked salmon).

‘Michael Jackson was on stage and we just went looking for the goody bags under every ones chair.’

Michelle added: ‘I hate how I have to do this publicly.. coz “apparently if you don’t show respect on Instagram you don’t really care”. So yes, call me a hypocrite right now for posting this.

‘But we live in a world where unfortunately if you don’t Pay respects publicly then “clearly you really were not her friend”.’

News of Nikki’s death was announced on Saturday night.

A representative for Nikki told Metro.co.uk: ‘It is with immeasurable sadness that Nikki Grahame passed away in the early hours of Friday, April 9 2021.

‘Please respect the privacy of Nikki’s friends and family at this tragic and difficult time.’