LONDON (Reuters) - Jade Goody, a one-time dental assistant whose final days were as closely chronicled in the media as her controversial appearances on reality television, died of cervical cancer on Sunday, her mother said.

The 27-year-old mother of two, who married her boyfriend in a televised ceremony only last month, died in her sleep at her home in Essex, southeast England.

"Jade died at 3.55 a.m. this morning," her mother Jackiey Budden told reporters outside the house. "Family and friends would like privacy at last."

By endlessly poring over every detail of Goody's losing battle with the disease, tabloid newspapers, broadsheets, gossip magazines and broadcasters have been accused of being obsessed with someone who is famous for little more than being famous.

Even Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been asked to comment on her condition in recent weeks.

Goody shot to fame in 2002 after appearing in Big Brother, a reality show in which people are locked in a house and their every move televised.

Initially ridiculed for her apparent lack of education -- she thought Saddam Hussein was a boxer and a ferret was a bird -- and criticized for her behavior to fellow competitors, she gradually won the public over with a straight-talking style.

She went on to become a regular in gossip magazines, wrote an autobiography and launched her own perfume, but her popularity sank in 2007 after racially charged tirades against Indian housemate Shilpa Shetty in Celebrity Big Brother.

It was during an appearance on an Indian version of Big Brother in August last year that she learned that she had cervical cancer. She dropped out of the show to return to Britain for treatment and later learned the cancer was terminal.

Goody's decision to die in the public gaze, in order to earn as much money as possible for her two young sons, and to raise awareness of cervical cancer, largely restored her popularity.

(Editing by Tim Pearce)

She was human and made mistakes like the rest of us , I hate the way that people have been so cruel about her . Her poor kids

Never heard of her.

she was an absolute ignaramous but i feel terrible for her kids

Pochacco said:

Exactly, that's the straight truth...

A terrible situation.

My mother died in similar circumstances 5 weeks ago. The last few weeks are indescribably horrible. Haven't processed it myself really. Not at all actually. Very hard. Surreal, almost.

I hope the media leave the family alone.

Killed by her own ignorance and stupidity - the press should focus on that a little more.

Women like Jade continue to die every year because they are too dumb to realise the healthcare provision available to them. Nobody is immune, cancer does not just go away, nobody can beat cancer with herbal tea and an "i will be ok" attitude.

Cervical screening is up in the UK because of this sad case, but everyone forgets thats Jade screened positive and then did nothing about it. Screening is not a cure, get screened, get treated, tackle this fucking disease head on.

TyphoonTip said:

Sorry to hear.

PREDOMINANT said:

[Snip -Mars23]
The broad point you make is no doubt a valid one. But to make it by describing people in a similar situation to Jade as being 'dumb' for not knowing their healthcare options, is arrogant, presumptuous, callous and outrageously offensive.

"..Killed by her own ignorance and stupidity.." Really. How people emotionally react and behave after getting a positive diagnosis is unpredictable @ best. It's a complicated, minefield of emotions for both the victim and the family.

For you to not only indifferently simplify what their reaction "should be", but to also insult them in the process is unforgivable.

[Snip -Mars23]
[Edited 3/23/09 6:33am]