Shilpa Shetty Wins Celebrity Big Brother After Racism
Category: Career, Entertainment, Celebrity News, Personality
After the most controversial Celebrity Big Brother season ever, the sexy Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, 31, has morphed from victim to victor, receiving 63 percent of the viewer votes on Sunday, according to host Davina McCall. Contestants on the show are locked in a house for about three weeks and are evicted one by one until someone is chosen as the winner of a cash prize for charity. Silpa said, “It’s truly been a roller coaster ride. The highs, the lows, each one has taught me so much.”
The beautiful Bollywood star won the public’s support after fellow contestant, Jade Goody, hurled racially tinged insults at her in an episode that led to a record 40,000 complaints to media regulators. Model Danielle Lloyd and singer Jo O’Meara were also seen by the British public as bullying Shetty. The program made front-page news for days in both Britain and India, where the show’s producers were burned in effigy. More than 8.8 million people tuned into the show following the racism controversy. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Treasury chief Gordon Brown and Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram have commented on the incident, which South Asian and anti-racist groups said revealed the face of racism in Britain.
Shetty defended fellow contestant Jade Goody, who repeatedly reduced the Indian actress to tears by shouting at her, calling her cooking untrustworthy, mocking her accent and calling her “Shilpa Poppadum.” “She is a little aggressive and hot tempered, but she’s not a racist,” Shetty said. Goody, who became famous after appearing on the non-celebrity version of “Big Brother” and has earned an estimated $16 million fortune through television and magazine appearances, an autobiography and an exercise video, endangered her own livelihood and reputation by her behavior in the house.
Silpa also has an acute perception of her situation as representing India in Great Britain, saying, “I don’t want people here feeling they welcomed an Indian here and she created so much trouble. I want to thank the whole of Great Britain for giving me this fantastic opportunity to make my whole country proud.”
British celebrity publicist Max Clifford has been signed to help develop Silpa’s career in Britain. Max estimated that the actress could earn $2 million in the next year from new contracts after appearing on the show. “It’s been a huge success for her because of how she’s handled these nasty attacks with dignity,” Clifford said on BBC.
Other participants on the show included former Jackson Five leader Jermaine Jackson and “A-Team” actor Dirk Benedict.
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