LITMIR.BIZ

       Foreword By Jackiey Budden

      When my daughter Jade was born I had no idea what impact she would have on this world.

      I split up with her father when she was about one and it’s just been me and her ever since. Until, that is, she arrived in the Big Brother house and the cameras joined her.

      Jade has written in her autobiographies that I was not the best mother in the world. I took drugs for four years and let her down. Before that she helped care for me after a motorcycle accident that left me severely injured and without the use of my left arm.

      Jade has always been there for me. When she was diagnosed with cancer it was my chance to be a good mum – and I think I proved to her I could do it.

      As a child Jade loved performing. She was always making me sit on the settee to watch her sing a song or dance. Drama was the thing she did best at school. Then she got a job as a dental nurse and focused on having the stable life she longed for.

      As her mother, I was last to know she’d entered the Big Brother auditions until she rang me screaming, ‘I’ve been kidnapped and am in Borehamwood somewhere!’ She’d been warned not to tell anyone and because of my big mouth I wasn’t told till the last minute.

      Watching her on that TV screen made me so proud. Even when she stripped off for the poker game, I knew she was just trying to do the right thing. Jade was brought up to play games properly and follow the rules.

      Afterwards, fame brought her more money than she’d ever imagined having. Suddenly she was able to live in a lovely house and have things she’d never dreamed of. And it didn’t change her one bit. She never saw herself as a celebrity. All her friends stayed the same and she lived a normal life. Her agent at the time said this wasn’t possible, but Jade proved it was.

      I became a celebrity mum too and the drug days were soon behind me.

      We’ve always had our ups and downs but this illness brought us closer than ever. Jade and I are one of the same picture. We’ve been best friends, flatmates, fighters, but always there for each other.

      Of all her achievements, Bobby and Freddy are the ones that Jade is most proud of. They became her world and the money from her fame let her give them the life she never had.

      Watching my daughter grow so ill with cancer has been a living nightmare. God has thrown some challenges at Jade and this one she tried so hard to fight for her boys.

      These diaries show just how hard she fought. Despite the pain and the horrible treatments, her wicked sense of humour shines through on every page.

      Jade’s courage and love for her family and friends is clear for everyone to see.

      I hope people feel inspired by her honesty. Jade always tells things like they are. And as her mum, I am so very proud of that.

      Jackiey Budden

      20th March 2009