Jade 'was not afraid of dying'

Jade 'was not afraid of dying'
Jade 'was not afraid of dying'

Jade Goody said she was not afraid of dying because she would be able to continue to be a part of her family's life and keep an eye on them. The former Big Brother star, who died early on Sunday morning from cancer, drew upon the strength of her belief in heaven and the afterlife as her health deteriorated. And it also played a big role in how she would deal with the loved ones she left behind. The 27-year-old had also reflected on how she might be remembered after she died. Jade's motivation for the publicity deals she made was the future security of her sons Bobby and Freddy. She was christened with both boys at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London early in March, and had said she wanted them to believe in God. She also told them that heaven was a place "where poorly people go to get better". Jade added she was "devastated" that she would never see her sons grow up. In one of her last interviews, with OK! magazine, she said, "I don't care what they do as long as they have a roof over their heads and keep out of trouble and, most of all, be happy." She also made arrangements for her own funeral, which she hoped to be a "celebration" of her life. "She wants it to be a big celebration because it's her final farewell to everybody," her publicist and friend Max Clifford said previously. "She's the world's first world reality television star. "It will be a very Jade Goody event, exactly the way she wants it."

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.