AFP
LONDON, Mar 22: British reality television star Jade Goody died in her sleep early Sunday aged just 27, her mother and publicist said, after a very public battle with cervical cancer.
Goody died at her home in Upshire, Essex, southeast England, at 3:14 am (0314 GMT) on Britain's Mother's Day, with new husband Jack Tweed and mother Jackiey Budden by her side.
"My beautiful daughter is at peace," Budden said. Goody's publicist Max Clifford added: "She was a very, very brave girl. And she faced her death in the way she faced her whole life -- full on, with a lot of courage".
Goody, an ex-dental nurse from south London, first found fame on Britain's "Big Brother" reality television programme in 2002.
But her rags-to-riches career was nearly ruined when she subjected Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty to racist bullying on the celebrity edition of the show in 2007, referring to her as "Shilpa Poppadom".
The two subsequently made peace, with Goody appearing on the Indian "Big Brother" -- "Bigg Boss", hosted by Shetty -- although she pulled out after receiving her cancer diagnosis.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown led the tributes to Goody Sunday, saying he was "deeply saddened" by her death.
"She was a courageous woman both in life and death and the whole country has admired her determination to provide a bright future for her children," Brown said.
"She will be remembered fondly by all who knew her and her family can be extremely proud of the work she has done to raise awareness of cervical cancer."
Goody's decision to live out her final weeks in the public eye prompted many commentators uncomfortable with the coverage to raise questions about the ethics of reality television.
But she won the hearts of many Britons and was responsible for a huge jump in the number of young women taking tests for cervical cancer.
She married Tweed -- a 21-year-old aspiring footballers' agent jailed last year for attacking a 16-year-old with a golf club -- on February 22, nine days after he proposed in hospital following her terminal diagnosis.
Media rights for the lavish ceremony at a country house hotel north of London were reportedly sold for one million pounds (1.1 million euros, 1.4 million dollars).
Goody plus sons Bobby, five, and Freddy, four -- who she had with her ex-boyfriend, television presenter Jeff Brazier -- were christened on March 7, another event captured by a magazine.
The christening was one of her final requests and her publicist Clifford said she wanted to do it so her sons "know about Jesus and hopefully in the years ahead they'll be able to keep in touch with (her) through Jesus".
On Tuesday, her publishers said they would publish a diary of her dying days.
Even her funeral, to be held at her local church in the next 10 days, is set to be highly public. Clifford said Goody planned it herself and that it would be "very much a Jade Goody production".
Goody always said she was seeking publicity not for herself but to make her sons financially secure when she was gone.
Although some found the spectacle ghoulish, others leapt to her defence.
Her case reportedly led to a 20 percent rise in the number of young women taking smear tests which can detect cervical cancer.
Robert Music, director of cervical cancer charity Jo's Trust, told British media he had "never seen anything like it".
"The Jade effect has been nothing short of phenomenal," he added. "Quite simply, Jade Goody will end up saving lives."
Goody's body was taken out of her home shortly before 8:00 am (0800 GMT) as mourners started leaving floral tributes at the gates of her home.
Speaking outside the house, her mother said: "Family and friends would like privacy at last."