Front Row Dress Circle

As usual Jade Goody is as controversial in death as she was in life. Today, after her death early yesterday morning, celebrities and VIP’s are lining up to commiserate and pay tribute to her.

But it was all so different just two years ago.

Those same celebs back then could not distance themselves far enough away from her, the public could not pour enough scorn on her. This was after her well publicised spat with Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother in January 2007.

That incident will be debated for some time to come but it’s after effects never really left Jade. I saw it as nothing to do with racism, it was more to do with a volatile young woman having a personality and ego clash with another. I dont know what personal issues Jade had at the time she entered the house that year but she seemed at odds and angry from the time she appeared with her mother and Jack on the show.

Whatever the reasons behind Jades terrible temper outburst at Shetty, the consequences meant that Jade became persona non gratis in the industry. It is an unforgiving industry which embraces political correctness and superficiality and shuns, discourages – even penalises – honesty and genuiness.

Those who heaped vitriole on Jade in the days and weeks following Shettygate are now lining up to express their admiration and regret. Some were even wanting to visit her sickbed and, I am sure if there is enough publicity in it, will be front row at her funeral.

Yes , maybe I am being ultra-cynical here, but Jade seems to have ended her life as the prodigal daughter. Reclaimed and hailed by the very industry who once, in all it’s hypocritical and self-righteous wrath, tried to destroy her. But it did never did.

Make no mistake, Jade was no saint, she was too real and too flawed for such a title. But at least she had the guts to be those things – in public and in front of the camera. Just like all of us. But it was a shame she had to apologise for it.

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Sad news. Natash Richardson died from the brain injury she sustained during her skiing accident last week. The actress has been laid to rest in a cemetery at Lithgow, NY. Deepest condolences go to her family, especially husband Liam Neeson and sons, Micheal and Daniel.

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At 3.55am this morning Jade passed away peacefully in her sleep, and how ironic it was that she held on until Mothering Sunday only to lose the struggle just before sunrise.

Jade, despite the vicious criticism from those too miserable and cynical to appreciate a mothers desperation at leaving her childen, died with more dignity than she will be given credit for. Despite the pain she was in she allowed the cameras to film her going about her life to show women the positive and negative side of cancer – you CAN get on with your life but at the same time DON’T ignore your health and share my fate.

Her last days and hours were dignified and were not held ‘in the public eye’. And lets heap praise on those fabulous Marie Curie nurses who provide end-of-life care to terminally ill patients and helped make those last days just that little bit moe bearable for Jade and her family.

Jade has had a phenomenal effect on the awareness of cervical cancer screening – she has shown, at her own expense, just what happens when you don’t get that next smear test or ignore that doctor’s letter. She took us along on her journey and it has now ended – she wanted a different ending for herself but because of Jade the possibility of a much better ending for millions of women everywhere has improved a hundredfold.

She may have spent her most painful moments in the spotlight, but they are moments which have made one hell of a difference.

As Jade’s next journey begins I know that her greatest fear – that her boys will forget her as time goes on – will never be allowed to happen. There are too many people around who will tell Bobby and Freddy just to what extent their mother went to secure a future for them and how much she loved them. In spite of her health, in spite of those miserable cynics.

And on this day, Mothering Sunday, that wonderful future she so planned for them has only just begun.

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