Jeff Brazier says it's been 'tremendously difficult' since Jade's death

Jade Goody’s ex Jeff Brazier has said it has been a “tremendously difficult” 10 years following her death.

The reality TV star – who found fame on Big Brother in 2002 – died in 2009 aged 27 after battling cervical cancer.

After her death, Brazier raised the couple’s two sons Freddie and Bobby, who are now 15 and 16.

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He told Cumbria-based paper The Mail that the last decade was "tremendously difficult”, adding: “That's the only way I can really put it.”

“There's been ups and downs, but we've come through it together,” he said.

Goody’s anniversary coincides with Mother's Day which Brazier said was a “cruel coincidence”.

He said: “It stirs up a lot for the boys.

“But whether it's 10 years, 20 years or 30 years, we'll always be talking about Jade because ultimately, that's where the boys came from.”

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Brazier, who married his girlfriend Kate Dwyer last year, said that his role was to be respectful to Goody’s memory and to ensure she lives on through her children.

Earlier this year the star paid a poignant tribute to Goody on what would have been her 38th birthday.

Sharing a black and white picture on Instagram of Goody and their sons, he wrote: “Today would have been Jade’s 38th Birthday so we had a small gathering and raised a glass in her memory.

“My heart aches for all of the love and affection the boys have had to go without in her absence and for all she missed of their childhood, those precious stolen moments deprived of a fiercely strong and proud Mother.”

Goody and Brazier started dating in 2002 and they welcomed son Bobby Jack in 2003 and Freddie in 2004, before splitting that year.

The children were aged four and five when Goody died.