How Jade Goody changed the UK
The reality TV star's story saw thousands more women attending cancer screenings
Jade Goody’s influence on pop culture cannot be understated.
She burst into the public eye in 2002 as a contestant on Big Brother, winning over viewers and becoming, in her publicist’s words at the time, “the world’s first reality television star”. The glittering world of showbiz was waiting when Goody left the house, and for a while she was everywhere.
But it’s what she did to raise awareness of cervical cancer that many fans remember the most. The TV star was diagnosed with the illness in 2008 and spent the last months of her life doing everything she could to raise awareness before she died in 2009, aged 27.
As her former flame Jeff Brazier and son Freddy appear on Celebrity Race Across the World, here’s everything you need to know about the reality star and cervical cancer advocate.
Finding fame on Big Brother
Goody was just 20 when she walked through the doors of the Big Brother house. She was in the third series, which included the likes of Alison Hammond and Kate Lawler, and while she only came fourth, the dental nurse from Bermondsey was one of the biggest stars ever created on the show.
Outspoken from the start, Goody immediately charmed and amused viewers with some of her comments, like saying she thought Cambridge was in London and confessing: “I don’t think before I talk.”
While she faced some teasing over some of her remarks, her stint in the house captured people’s attention and when Goody left BB plenty of opportunities were waiting.
Controversy
Back in the real world, Goody got into the often lucrative area of fitness DVDs and continued to rack up reality TV appearances in shows including Celebrity Driving School and Wife Swap. She even landed a string of her own television projects, like What Jade Did Next and Jade’s Salon.
Her career was booming but Goody did find herself in a spot of bother from time to time. Perhaps fittingly for a woman who unveiled a perfume called Controversial, there were occasions when she was criticised for the things she had said.
The biggest scandal was in 2007, when she returned to the Big Brother house for the celebrity edition of the show and became embroiled in a race row.
The programme was all over the headlines for days when some of the housemates – including Goody – were accused of bullying and making racist comments towards Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty. There were more than 40,000 complaints in total and the story was even raised in the Commons.
Family life
Goody started dating TV star Jeff Brazier in 2002 and the couple had sons Bobby and Freddy before splitting in 2004.
At the time of her death, the celeb was married to Jack Tweed, who had appeared with her on Celebrity Big Brother. They tied the knot in February 2009, just weeks before Goody passed away in her sleep.
The star knew she had terminal cancer at the time so organisers managed to pull the wedding together in just a few days so that she and Tweed would get to exchange vows before she died. Goody told OK! magazine that she’d had "the happiest day of my life" after they said “I do” at a country house hotel.
“Now I'm ready to go to heaven,” she said.
Brazier has raised Bobby and Freddy and in the last couple of years they have stepped into the limelight themselves, with Bobby landing the role of Freddie Slater in EastEnders and competing on Strictly, and Freddy now taking part in Celebrity Race Across the World.
Cancer diagnosis
Goody was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2008, while she was a housemate in the Indian version of Big Brother. She took on her illness as she did the rest of her life – in the public eye – and made sure to keep her fans updated on her health as she went through chemotherapy.
She also started doing everything she could to raise awareness and encouraged other women to attend their screenings, having herself ignored a letter saying that abnormal cells had been found on her cervix.
Her then publicist Max Clifford told the BBC at the time: “She's aware that her going public about cervical cancer since it was discovered last August has led to a 20% increase in young women all over Britain that are having cervical cancer smears.
"That's something that obviously she takes great pride from because, in her own words, 'Hopefully there's a lot of young women out there that won't suffer the way I have because of what I've said publicly'. And it's working.”
Legacy and ‘Jade Goody effect’
Goody died in her sleep on 22 March 2009, when her boys Freddy and Bobby were four and five. In the final months of her life it had already become clear that her openness about her illness had sparked something people called the “Jade Goody effect”, which saw women flocking to have their smear tests.
Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust has previously said that Goody’s story had an “enormous impact”. “There was an extraordinary rise in women attending cervical screening with an extra 400,000 booking their test across the UK,” a post on the organisation’s website said.
“As a result, we saw many cancers being prevented as well as cancers detected at an earlier stage, less invasive treatments and better outcomes.”
