Following the death of their mutual friend Nikki Grahame, Pete Bennett retaliated after Imogen Thomas accused him of ‘attention seeking.’

Imogen said on Monday that her Big Brother co-star had ‘cruelly insulted the memory’ of his ex-girlfriend Nikki, who died in April 2021 at the age of 38 after a struggle with anorexia.

Pete Bennett has now written to Imogen, accusing her of’milking’ her friendship with Nikki and asking her to ‘leave me grieve and let Nikki rest in peace,’ according to MailOnline.

After Pete publicly published a photo of her taken shortly before her death, Imogen, who competed on Big Brother with both Nikki and Pete in 2006, accused Pete of ‘betraying’ their mutual friend.

‘He just rocked up at 1am with his girlfriend and took that picture,’ Imogen told The Sun, despite Pete claiming the late star gave him permission to release the photo, in which she seems extremely emaciated. ‘He just rocked up at 1am with his girlfriend and took that picture. He only stayed for an hour.’

Pete has now stated that he stood by Nikki during her final days and that he posted the photo to gather money for her anorexia treatment.

‘I am depressed to see the recent attack on me by Imogen in the press just coming up to the first anniversary of Nikki’s death,’ Pete told MailOnline.

‘The accusations are simply untrue and poorly timed. Respectfully she should let me grieve, let Nikki rest in peace, and stop milking it.’

Speaking about the night he took the photo of Nikki, Pete explained: ‘That evening I stayed all night with Nikki and looked after her till the next day. I have several witnesses, including my then-girlfriend. She was a mental health nurse who dealt with anorexia.’

Pete Bennett then claimed that when he tweeted his photo of Nikki, Imogen was busy working as an influencer on her own social media platform.

‘I put up the picture of us to get funds for Nikki’s anorexia treatment. I used my platform to help spread the word as much as possible. Imogen did little online apart from promoting McCain oven chips in her Instagram story.’

Despite Pete’s assertions that Imogen did “little” to help their buddy, she has previously spoken about her trips to Nikki while she was in hospital and how she attempted to section Nikki in order to save her life.

‘Imogen’s warped view on my visit to Nikki and ridiculous self-righteous plugging of “being her best friend” to gain some popularity with Nikki fans is overwhelmingly painful to watch,’ Pete continued.

Pete Bennett added that he has been in therapy to help deal with Nikki’s death, explaining: ‘Nikki’s passing was very traumatic for me, and I’ve been in therapy to try and recover. Only I know how much Nikki loved me and what it meant to her that I visited that night. Imogen has poisoned the last memories I had with Nikki.’

Pete Bennett also disclosed that, unlike Imogen, he declined an invitation to appear in the Channel 4 documentary Nikki Grahame: Who Is She?, which premiered this week.

‘I turned down the documentary for my mental health, but I hope it’s a beautiful send-off for her, regardless of Imogen,’ he said. ‘It is awful for Nickki’s close friends and me that this has been dragged through the papers. Imogen is a very sad person. I hope she gains a conscience one day.’

Imogen told The Sun on Monday that she tried to contact Pete personally to address their feud, but the reality star became enraged.

‘He went off on one. I’ve got loads of photos of Nikki on my phone but I’d never post them online. It doesn’t even look like Nik. He then decided to go on every TV show and talk about her and this picture was popping up everywhere’.

‘It wasn’t nice for her mum and the rest of her family and friends.’

Nikki rose to stardom after appearing on the 2006 season of Big Brother and being famous for her catchphrase “who is she?”

She had fought with anorexia for most of her childhood and was admitted to a psychiatric facility for the first time at the age of 12.

Imogen reflected on her friend’s battle with anorexia, saying that while she was on Big Brother, Nikki kept her eating issue hidden from the other participants.

She went on to state that Nikki’s appearance on the popular reality show ‘saved’ her, claiming that her buddy enjoyed being surrounded by others.

Imogen also claimed that in an attempt to save Nikki’s life, she attempted to have her sectioned. She revealed, ‘She called me a few weeks before she die, she didn’t want to be anorexic.’

Imogen admitted that her friend ‘hated’ her for attempting to have her sectioned because Nikki wanted to overcome her eating condition but couldn’t.

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