The 23-year-old, a member of mixed fleet cabin crew, sparked outrage after recording the racist clip in her BA uniform before flying from London Heathrow to Abuja on Friday night.
Ms Wickenden, who is believed to have been suspended, refused to comment about the video at the home she shares with her mother and father in Fareham, Hampshire.
But a close friend defended the flight attendant and told MailOnline the film was recorded by a BA colleague, saying: 'She's not racist, it was a joke between two friends. It wasn't meant to be racist. She is not saying she dislikes Nigerians and she's not saying that anyone is better than anyone else.'
A source told MailOnline that the video - which was captioned 'I can't cope with this flight' - was circulated among 'horrified' BA cabin crew who are 'very concerned'.
Another shocked staff member said BA should apologise to its Nigerian passengers.
The airline launched an investigation into the controversial footage.
In a statement the company said: 'We expect the utmost professionalism from our staff when they are representing British Airways. We are investigating this video.'
In the expletive-filled footage, Ms Wickenden said: 'All Nigerians are going to be asking for f****** upgrades' - after claiming the men would need more leg room in an apparent joke about the size of their privates.
During the one-minute clip she also revealed how she was going to deal with passengers on the six-hour flight.
She said: 'Alright, so all of yous are there getting ready for your Friday night, getting in the pre-drinks, you know, as you do.
'And I'm here, getting ready to go to work, put on a yellow life jacket, point out the exits, hand out chicken or beef, what sort of Friday night is this for me?
'The upside is I'm going to Nigeria and there's gonna be bare B**, I'm joking, I'm joking.
'All the Nigerians are gonna be there like 'gimme Coca Cola, gimme me beef, why you have no beef left? I want beef.'
'And I'm just gonna be there like, 'Sorry sir, we ran out of beef'.
'All the Nigerians are gonna be there asking for f****** upgrades because they haven't got enough leg room because their B**s are in their way. Big d**** like this swinging from side to side.'
An airline source told MailOnline: 'My friend was horrified. BA has a culture of dealing with things like this internally, she passed it to me because she was concerned that nothing was done.'
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