GOOD Morning Britain fans were horrified today as Kate Garraway said that she will be “talking to” late Nikki Grahame on the programme.
It came immediately after a blunder that saw footage of Prince Philip air alongside a headline about Nikki, with both passing away on Friday [9 April].
As Kate and co-host Adil Ray took over the show from Charlotte Hawkins at 6.30am this morning, they ran through what viewers can expect from the rest of the programme.
However, the sound cut out in the final part – which saw a video of Prince Philip, who died aged 99 last week, alongside the Queen and grandsons Prince William and Prince Harry, but the headline read: “Tributes to Nikki Grahame”.
Adil apologised as the show cut to him and Kate in the studio, explaining: “A bit of a mix-up with the pictures there, we will be paying tribute to Nikki Grahame.”
Kate replied: “We will be talking to Nikki Grahame as well, we have one of her best friends Pete Bennett, who she dated.”
She did not appear to realise her error, and the gaffe was not addressed on air – but viewers flocked to Twitter to share their outrage after Nikki lost her battle with anorexia on Friday at the age of 38.
One tweeted: “Kate Garraway just announced she’ll be talking to Nikki Grahame later!!”
Another wrote: “Really @GMB ? Firstly a mix up in footage and then Kate says you’ll be talking TO Nikki Grahame”.
Nikki’s anorexia battle began when she was just seven years old after a cruel comment from a classmate at her gymnastics club.
She was told that she had a “big bum”, with Nikki explaining in her 2012 autobiography Fragile that this triggered something inside of her that made her believe she had to be “skinny to succeed”.
The reality TV icon wrote: “And because I didn’t just want to be better than I was at gymnastics, but to be the best, then I couldn’t just be skinny. I would have to be the skinniest.”
Nikki had been open about her anorexia battle since finding fame in Big Brother back in 2006, releasing first autobiography Dying To Be Thin in 2009.
Last month, Nikki checked into a private hospital to treat her eating disorder after desperate friends managed to raise over £65,000 for the specialist care.
However, her tragic passing was confirmed on the same GoFundMe page that raised the cash, with an emotional statement reading: “It is with great sadness, we have to let you know that our dear friend Nikki passed away in the early hours of Friday 9th April.
“It breaks our hearts to know that someone who is so precious was taken from us at such a young age. Nikki not only touched the lives of millions of people, but also her friends and family who will miss her immensely.
“We would like to request privacy at this difficult time, while Nikki’s friends and family process the sad news.
