Jade Goody dies after cancer fight

Jade Goody died on Mother's Day after her fight with cancer

  Jade Goody has diedJade Goody died in her sleep today, her publicist Max Clifford confirmed.

The reality TV star died with her mother Jackiey Budden at her side at her home in Upshire, Essex, at 3:14am on Mother’s Day. Standing outside her home Mrs Budden said, “My beautiful daughter is at peace. Family and friends would like privacy at last.”

Jade gained fame at 21 years old in 2002’s Big Brother, where she lived with other participants in a filmed house. Loud Jade became a highly controversial star – originally mocked as ignorant and then celebrated as a modern entrepreneur by the tabloid press. Jade’s relationship with the tabloid press was a turbulent one, with love and praise one moment and condemnation the next. An example of which is the ‘race row’ during Celebrity Big Brother 2007 when Jade sparked debate over her treatment of Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty and was branded as a racist. In 2008 Jade entered the Big Boss house – an Indian version of Big Brother – by way of a formal apology to India for her treatment of Shetty.  It was during her time filming the show that Jade received a phone call from doctors in the UK confirming that she had cervical cancer. The deeply personal call was captured on camera, and shown repeatedly on TV in England, though not in India.

The details of Jade’s illness were chronicled in detail by the UK press, and in February 2009 it was announced that the cancer was terminal and Jade had a matter of weeks to live. In the same month a bald Goody married her fiancé Jack Tweed in an elaborate ceremony at a countryside hotel outside London and sold the exclusive picture rights to OK! magazine for a reported £700,000.

At the time many questioned Jade’s right to document her illness so publicly, while Jade argued that she was trying to secure the future for her two sons, Bobby, five, and Freddy, four. While some questioned the public documentation of Jade’s illness, others  praised her for creating a “Goody effect” as cancer experts saw a massive surge in the number of young women getting cancer screenings. Julietta Patnick, director of the NHS screening programmes, told the BBC that some laboratories are reporting as much as a 50% rise in the number of women coming forward for screenings.

Referring to how her public battle with cancer raised awareness of the disease, Mr Clifford said, “I think she’s going to be remembered as a young girl who has, and who will, save an awful lot of lives.” He added, “She was a very, very brave girl. And she faced death in the way she faced her whole life – full on, with a lot of courage.”

Goody is survived by Tweed and her two sons Bobby and Freddy, with ex-boyfriend Jeff Brazier.  She is also survived by her mother Jackiey Budden.

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