Reality television star Jade Goody, aged just 27, died in her sleep early Sunday, her mother and publicist Max Clifford said, after a very public battle with cervical cancer. Goody died at her home in Upshire, Essex, at 3:14 am (0314 GMT) on Mother's Day, with new husband Jack Tweed and mother Jackiey Budden by her side. Prime Minister Gordon Brown led the tributes to Goody Sunday, saying he was "deeply saddened" by her death.
Goody, an ex-dental nurse from south London, first found fame on Britain's "Big Brother" reality television programme in 2002. But her rags-to-riches career was nearly ruined when she subjected Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty to racist bullying on the celebrity edition of the show in 2007, referring to her as "Shilpa Poppadom". The two subsequently made peace, with Goody appearing on the Indian "Big Brother" -- "Bigg Boss", hosted by Shetty -- although she pulled out after her cancer diagnosis.
She married Tweed -- a 21-year-old aspiring footballers' agent jailed last year for attacking a 16-year-old with a golf club -- on February 22, nine days after he proposed in hospital following her terminal diagnosis. Media rights for the lavish ceremony at a country house hotel north of London were reportedly sold for one million pounds (1.1 million euros, 1.4 million dollars).
Goody plus sons Bobby, five, and Freddy, four -- who she had with her ex-boyfriend, television presenter Jeff Brazier -- were christened on March 7, another event captured by a magazine. The christening was one of her final requests and her publicist Clifford said she wanted to do it so her sons "know about Jesus and hopefully in the years ahead they'll be able to keep in touch with (her) through Jesus".
Her case reportedly led to a 20 percent rise in the number of young women taking pap smear tests which can detect cervical cancer.
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