Duncan James has revealed he begged his friend Nikki Grahame to eat when he saw how frail she was when she came to watch him in Chicago in 2018.
The Blue star, 43, has broken his silence following the tragic death of Nikki, who died last Friday aged 38 after a 30-year battle with anorexia.
Duncan said he had no idea Nikki, who rose to fame on Big Brother in 2006, was in hospital having specialist treatment for her eating disorder and expressed his regret at missing his chance to say goodbye in an interview with OK! Magazine.
‘She looked so thin’: Duncan James has revealed he begged his friend Nikki Grahame to eat when he saw how frail she was when she came to watch him in Chicago in 2018
Duncan brought up how he had tried to encourage to eat back in 2018.
He said: ‘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.”
The stage star said it has been ‘really hard’ following her sudden death because he never got the chance to say goodbye.
Duncan continued: ‘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.
Terrible loss: The Blue star has broken his silence following the tragic death of Nikki, who died last Friday aged 38 after a 30-year battle with anorexia
Trying to help: Duncan brought up how he had tried to encourage to eat back in 2018, after she watched him in Chicago (pictured)
‘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.’
The pair became friends after Nikki left Big Brother, the show which had catapulted her to fame in 2006.
Nikki and Duncan went on to have a 15-year friendship, and the late television personality joked she would consider his as a potential sperm donor when she talked about her desire of having a baby in 2019.
When asked if she would consider the Blue star as a potential father to her baby, Nikki admitted he would be a great choice as he is already a devoted dad to daughter Tianie-Finn, 16.
Close: Nikki and Duncan had a 15-year friendship, and the late television personality joked she would consider his as a potential sperm donor (pictured in 2018)
Nikki said at the time: ‘Could you imagine?! How good would that be? I should send him a WhatsApp.’
However just six months after Nikki revealed her dreams to have a baby, fertility clinics in the UK had to shut amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this week, Nikki’s friends reactivated her fundraiser to help her heartbroken family pay for her funeral and help others with eating disorders.
The fundraiser was initially set up a month ago by Nikki’s friends and raised £65,000 for the Big Brother star to have specialist treatment for her eating disorder.
Statement: The Big Brother icon died just one month after her friends started a GoFundMe page for anorexia treatment
Her friends posted the following message on her page: ‘We just wanted to let you know that we are turning donations back on for anyone that would like to make a donation in Nikki’s memory, as lots of people have been asking if they can still donate.
‘An amount will be used for the funeral costs and the remaining funds will be used to go towards an organisation that helps those suffering with eating disorders, the crucial funding that has been lacking to help people in these awful situations has not been addressed, we will use this money to the best of our ability to try and stem this horrific, debilitating illness.
‘We also would like to thank people who have sent private messages with lovely words about Nikki, she would be so thankful.’
The charity hasn’t yet been selected but tributes and donations continued to pour in from heartbroken fans.
It comes after it was revealed Nikki’s loved ones believed her health was improving ahead of her tragic death on Friday – leaving them in total shock.
Iconic: Nikki became a Big Brother icon when she appeared on the reality show in 2006
The star left a hospital where she had been staying at for anorexia treatment just 24 hours before she died, after being discharged from emergency treatment.
Nikki also assured her friends she was ‘all good’ in a harrowing final Facebook post just before she entered a hospital for her eating disorder.
An insider explained that due to a lack of beds Nikki had been discharged and was due to attend a specialist clinic but tragically never made it.
The source told MailOnline: ‘She was discharged from a general hospital where she’d been for three weeks [but] there wasn’t a bed available on an eating disorder unit, NHS or private…
‘They deemed her well enough after she’d put on weight and was in good spirits…
‘Her loved ones pleaded with them not to as she wasn’t ready and was then supposed to enter a private outpatient clinic from this Monday, she sadly never got to and died within 24 hours of leaving hospital.’
Nikki’s final Facebook post was on February 27, when she uploaded a snap of a vase of roses, thanking the sender for gifting them to her.
Asked by a friend in the comments, Nikki’s last-ever Facebook activity saw her reply: ‘All good darling.’
The star, who shot to fame on the 2006 series of Big Brother, began suffering from anorexia as a child.
After first being admitted to an eating disorder unit at the age of eight, she was force-fed through a tube, and has caused long-term damage to her oesophagus from years of purging.
A source went on to The Sun: ‘Given the severity of Nikki’s condition and the strain already put on her body from 30 years of battling anorexia, there were major reservations about scaling back her care.
‘Although there were concerns that Nikki still needed heightened care, she did seem to be doing relatively well and her discharge was a cause for cautious optimism among her inner circle.
‘Nikki, unfortunately, had suffered many relapses in her life, but this time she was more determined than ever to get better and the outpouring of support buoyed her.
‘That she lost her battle when she appeared to be moving in the right direction made her passing all the more shocking and heartbreaking.’
‘It’s been really, really hard’: Her mother Sue recently claimed her daughter’s 30-year battle with anorexia worsened because of the coronavirus pandemic (pictured together)