Pete Bennett has paid a glowing tribute to Nikki Grahame.

Nikki Grahame

Nikki Grahame

The former 'Big Brother' star passed away on Friday (09.04.21) following a long battle with anorexia, and Pete - who won the reality series in 2006 - has taken to Instagram to celebrate Nikki's life.

Pete, 39 - who is seen drinking from a bottle of wine in Nikki's honour - said: "For Nikki Grahame, all the love from us at 'Big Brother 7'.

"We loved you, Nik. You were a true winner. You were great, you were beautiful, you rocked it, mate. Just wanna say, we’ll miss you, babe. Safe, man. See you later, Nikki. (sic)"

Pete and Nikki - who passed away at the age of 38 - had an on/off relationship during their time together in the 'Big Brother' house.

The TV star - who also dated Nikki briefly in the aftermath of appearing in the Channel 4 show - said in the caption that he hopes his ex-girlfriend is now "finally at peace".

He wrote on the photo-sharing platform: "Im gutted, we have lost a true character, my bb7 posse feel like we’ve lost a family member, our series just wouldn’t of been the same without her! Even through our ups and downs we have still remained close through the years, and it was so nice to visit again recently with my girlfriend ,sing Kate bush songs and have fun like the good old days! I’m just sad that it was the last song we ever sang (sic)"

Pete added that he hopes Nikki is no longer suffering following her anorexia battle.

He wrote: "Thank you for the memories my friend , you will sorely be missed,I hope you’re not hurting anymore and finally at peace

I’ll See you in heaven Nikki [heart emoji] Lots of love Pete Xxx (sic)"

The official 'Big Brother' Twitter account has also paid tribute to Nikki.

The account said: "Nikki Grahame was a much loved housemate and a huge part of the 'Big Brother' family. We are shocked and saddened by this awful news and our thoughts are with her family."

Elsewhere, fellow TV star Paddy McGuinness wrote on Twitter: "Definitely one of the stars from the glory years of reality tv. I met her a long time ago and she was a lovely girl. RIP young lady. (sic)"

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