Entertainment
Blue’s Duncan James reveals regrets following Nikki Grahame’s death: ‘I wish I’d known’
Duncan James has opened up about his regrets that he didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Nikki Grahame before her death, or known the extent of her anorexia.
The Blue star, 43, revealed that he wishes he had been able to reach out to Nikki before she died aged 38 following a 30-year battle with the eating disorder.
Duncan says he previously tried to encourage Nikki to eat after noticing she was very thin when she came to see him in the musical Chicago a few years earlier.
He told OK: ‘She looked so thin then. I said, “You need to eat. Why are you so thin?” And she said, “Oh stop nagging me!” I said, “No, you’ve got to start to eat.” And she said, “I’ve been battling this for years.” I tried to encourage her.’
Nikki’s mother had previously revealed that the Big Brother star’s anorexia had worsened in lockdown as the gyms were closed for months on end which caused her to struggle more with eating, too.
Duncan added that he regrets not having known how bad things had got, explaining: ‘It’s really sad because I wish I’d known.
‘I wish someone had told me she was in a hospital. At least I could have tried to contact her and speak to her or at least say goodbye.
‘That’s the sad thing when somebody that you’re fond of and you know and you care about when they die you don’t get a chance to say goodbye. That’s what was really hard.’
Prior to Nikki’s death, her friends had set up a Go Fund Me account to raise money for her to have treatment in a specialist eating disorder clinic, but the star tragically never made it there after beds were unavailable.
The fundraiser made over £69,000, some of which will now go towards Nikki’s funeral with the rest going to benefit an organisation helping those with eating disorders.
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