Jade Goody was born on 5 June 1981 and is the British reality television celebrity, who became famous after appearing on the Channel 4 reality show "Big Brother" in 2002 when she was 21 years old. She later appeared in a number of other programmes. As a participant in the 2007 series of "Celebrity Big Brother", she was at the centre of allegations of bullying, racist and elitist comments against fellow housemate Shilpa Shetty, the noted Indian actress.
Brought up in Bermondsey, South London, her parents split up when she was a toddler. Her father, Andrew Goody spent four years in Wandsworth Prison for robbery and died of a heroin overdose in 2005. Meanwhile, her mother, Jackiey Budden, lost the use of an arm and an eye in a motorcycle accident. Goody claims in her autobiography that she didn't get much of a chance to go to school. When she was five, Goody appeared in the pilot episode of ITV's " London's Burning" (sometimes referred to as the 'Telemovie' episode).
Overnight Fame in Big Brother 3
After leaving school she worked as a dental nurse before coming to public attention in 2002 when she became a contestant in the third series of the UK version of "Big Brother". Goody was soon a target of ridicule in the British tabloid press for displaying a high level of ignorance regarding basic general knowledge for a British native. Goody thought that the British city of Cambridge was in London. On being told that Cambridge is in East Anglia, or rather Goody's 'East Angular', she assumed that this was abroad. Goody also believed that Saddam Hussein was a boxer.
Since her first appearance on "Big Brother" some reports suggest she has made more than £4million in the past few years; however, someone who works with her put the figure closer to £2 million. Goody has fronted her own reality TV shows and appeared regularly in celebrity, trivia, and gossip-oriented women's magazines such as "heat" and "OK!". On January 5 2007, Goody and her family returned to "Big Brother", re-entering the house during "Celebrity Big Brother".
Subsequent time in the limelight
Goody ranked no. 25 in a poll by Heat for the most influential person in the world - something which has brought her much ridicule after she mentioned it whilst on "Celebrity Big Brother 2007"and in the same sentence admitted not even knowing the meaning of the word.
On 2 May 2006, Goody published her autobiography titled "Jade: My Autobiography". In June of the same year she launched her own fragrance, "Shh . . . Jade Goody", through Superdrug. There were allegations of racism attached to the perfume and The Perfume Shop decided to remove the fragrance from its shelves. The Perfume Shop has since started re-selling "Shh..." and it is now in their top 5 best online sellers in the run-up to Christmas 2007. Until November 2006 Goody also contributed a weekly column to "NOW" magazine.
Running for charity
Goody signed up for the 2006 London Marathon. She did not finish the course, collapsing after 34 km (21 miles) of the 42.195 km (26.2 miles) and was taken to the Royal London Hospital to recover overnight. She told TV Chef Gordon Ramsay before the race that her preparation for the race consisted of eating curry, Chinese and drinking.
On 5 January 2007 Goody, her mother Jackiey Budden, and her boyfriend Jack Tweed entered the "Big Brother" House for "Celebrity Big Brother 2007". Upon entering the "Big Brother" House, Goody was informed that she and her family (later joined by Jermaine Jackson, Shilpa Shetty and Ken Russell) would stay in the main house in luxury, while the 8 other remaining celebrities would become their servants and live in the house next door. Goody was not informed that she and her new family faced an eviction in which the public voted for their favourite to keep in the house. As a result, Jackiey had the fewest votes and was evicted on January 10 2007. Goody was evicted from the Big Brother house on 19 January 2007 receiving 82% of the vote when up against Shilpa Shetty.
Goody had a relationship with TV presenter and fellow reality television regular Jeff Brazier, the father of her two sons, Bobby Jack, born on June 6, 2003, and Freddie, born in September 2004. She is currently in a relationship with Jack Tweed, who appeared alongside her on Celebrity Big Brother.
Television appearances
Since her debut on "Big Brother", her television appearances have included:
"What Jade Did Next"
"Celebrity Wife Swap", alongside Charles Ingram.
"Celebrity Driving School".
"Back To Reality" on Five along with former "Big Brother" contestants Nick Bateman and Craig Phillips in 2004.
Appeared in Channel 4's "Big Brother Panto" Christmas 2004.
"Jade's Salon" - in September 2005 she opened a beauty salon, Ugly's, in Hertford. The preparations for opening the salon were filmed for a LIVINGtv series.*"Celebrity Weakest Link" BBC with Anne Robinson.
On March 25, 2006 Goody won "Celebrity Stars In Their Eyes".
"60 Minute Makeover" - ITV1 makeover show, redecorating her mother Jackiey's home.
"The Friday Night Project" July 2006, Goody appeared on as the guest host. Many of the skits made reference to her "Big Brother" experience and her perceived ignorance.
Goody competed in "Celebrity Mastermind" in 2006 for Sport Relief. Her specialist subject was "EastEnders", but she was beaten by Chantelle Houghton, whose specialist subject was " Coronation Street".
