Nikki Grahame death ‘still grieved’ by ex, Pete Bennett

Nikki Grahame's ex-boyfriend Pete Bennett is "still grieving" her death.

The Big Brother star died in 2021 after spending years battling an eating disorder battle and Pete, who struck up a romance with the TV star during their time in the reality show together back in 2006, has now revealed he's still dealing with the "trauma" of her passing five years on.

During an interview with The Brighton Coach, Pete was asked about Nikki and he scolded the host, saying, "F*** off. What have you brought that up for.”

"I’ve literally had next level trauma for years. I’ve just literally just got over that and everywhere I go it’s the same, it’s really hard a lot of people want to talk about it,” he clarified.

"Imagine I brought up someone all the time, it’s hard. F****** f***** me up, the whole thing."

He went on to add, "I’m getting there now, it’s taken me five years to get to where I’m at to be able to grieve her and grieve what happened and try and get to a place where it doesn’t trigger me anymore, because it is really triggering, the whole thing is horrible.

"And I miss her a lot, I just wish that I could... that’s what f**** me up, I wish I could say: 'I’m sorry' and just give her a cuddle,” Pete admitted.

He added to the host, "I told you, I get triggered, you’re talking about Nicky and it f**** me up."

Nikki and Pete met and struck up a romance during a series of Big Brother in 2006. Pete won the show and the relationship continued after the season ended but eventually parted ways.

However, the former couple maintained their friendship over the years and he was still in touch with her shortly before her death.

Speaking in 2021, Pete revealed he'd tried to arrange a surprise message from Nikki's musical hero, Kate Bush, to cheer her up when she was unwell but he was "too late."

He told Heat magazine, "I was looking to contact Kate Bush to see if she could send Nikki a message as I honestly thought that giving her a boost from her hero would help her start to feel more positive and recover.

"But then we got the news that she was gone. And it was too late,” Pete Bennett grieved of Nikki Grahame’s loss.