Who was Jade Goody? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

British Celebrities Born In June

Also Known As: Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody

Died At Age: 27

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Jack Tweed

father: Andrew Robert Goody

mother: Jackiey Budden

siblings: Brett Luckens

children: Bobby Jack Brazier, Freddie Brazier

Partner: Jeff Brazier (2002–04), Ryan Amoo (2005)

Born Country: England

Reality TV Personalities British Women

Height: 5'6" (168 cm), 5'6" Females

Died on: March 22, 2009

place of death: Upshire, Essex, England, United Kingdom

City: London, England

Cause of Death: Cervical Cancer

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Childhood & Early Life

Jade Goody was born on 5 June 1981, in Bermondsey, South East London, to Andrew Goody and Jackiey Budden. Her father was a career criminal and drug addict father.

Jade’s father separated from Jade's mother when Jade was two years old, and died of a drug overdose in August 2005. Jade Goody and her father were estranged at the time.

Jade made her debut on television with an uncredited role on the television film, 'London's Burning', in 1986. This show was shot in her hometown.

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Career

Working as a dentist’s assistant, Jade Goody established herself as a reality TV actress while participating in the third season of reality TV show ‘Big Brother’ from 2002-2003. Her time on that show brought her a lot of derision and criticism by the British press for her perceived lack of general knowledge.

Between the years 2003-2006, she appeared in multiple reality television shows, all of them her own, as well as appearances in various magazines like 'Heat' and 'OK!'. Apart from this, she entered another reality show, 'Back to Reality', on 16 February, 2004. A similar concept to the 'Big Brother' series, Jade Goody, along with other famous reality show contestants, were supposed to survive alongside each other. Jade was evicted from the house within 20 days of entering it.

She developed her own best-selling perfume, 'Shh...', in 2005. The fragrance was touted as the third-best, behind Kylie Minogue's and Victoria Beckham's perfumes. She made an appearance in TV series, ‘The Friday Night Project’, in 2006.

Jade Goody ran the ‘London Marathon’ in 2006, but was unable to finish it. Jade collapsed after running 34 km and was taken to the hospital, where she stayed overnight to recover.

She wrote her own biography, 'Jade: My Autobiography', which was published on 2 May 2006. The same year, she participated in and won the singing game show 'Stars in Their Eyes' on 'ITV' channel.

On 5 January 2007, she entered 'Celebrity Big Brother 5', alongside her boyfriend Jack Tweed, and her mother Jackiey Budden. She got evicted by 19 January 2007.

2008 was an eventful year for Jade Goody. She entered the Indian version of 'Big Brother', called 'Bigg Boss' on 17 August,2008, and left the show just two days later after being diagnosed with cervical cancer.

She was a part of reality documentary series 'Living With Jade Goody', released in September 2008. She opened her second salon, for men, and released her second autobiography, 'Jade: Catch A Falling Star', in October 2008. Another documentary, 'Jade's Cancer Battle', was released at the end of the year on 11th December 2008.

She garnered critical praise for her role as the 'Wicked Queen' in a Christmas pantomime version of 'Snow White', at the 'Theatre Royal', Lincoln, in December 2008. Her worsening health caused her to withdraw from this production in 2009.

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Jade Goody was credited for lending her voice to character Rachel, in a short movie, 'Treasure', which was released in 2015.

Family & Personal Life

Jade Goody had two sons, Bobby Jack Brazier (born 6 June 2003) and Freddie Brazier (18 September, 2004).

Just 15 when she contracted the HPV virus, Jade Goody had multiple surgeries to remove the deadly cells from her body, but they kept recurring, even after the birth of her second son in 2004.

Despite repeated cancer screenings in 2004 and 2006, her doctors could not diagnose her with a disease, even after she miscarried Jack Tweed's baby at just 12 weeks, in June 2007. Later tests would reveal she was suffering from cancer at that time.

Her cancer diagnosis came in August 2008, but it was too late by then. She had already had cancer for almost two years by then. Surgeries conducted showed that the cancer had progressed rapidly, reducing her chances of survival.

She married her boyfriend, reality show actor, Jack Tweed, on 22 February 2009. By then, she had been told by doctors that her cancer was terminal.

After a painful battle with cancer, Jade Goody died on 22 March 2009. Her death did result in increased awareness about cervical cancer, and inquiries into it from a large number of women. (However, later surveys show this number is declining again.)

Scandal

During her time on reality television show ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ in 2007, Jade Goody made racist comments about her housemate, Indian actress Shilpa Shetty. This drew immense ire and hatred from multiple sources inside and outside Britain; the channel, producers, and even broadcast regulators received countless complaints against the racial slurs. While Jade initially maintained her ignorance of the racial tone of her insults, she and the other cast mates involved did apologise to Shilpa Shetty and the public. She later admitted to feeling ashamed of her actions during the show.

Trivia

To break the news of her terminal cancer diagnosis to her young sons, Jade Goody and her sons’ father Jeff Brazier co-wrote a script, which explained how she would become a star in the sky that her sons would always be able to see.

Her wedding dress on her marriage to Jack Tweed was a gift from Mohamed Al-Fayed, owner of leading London-based department store 'Harrods'.

Jade Goody Biography