Bollywood-style happy ending for Shilpa Shetty
LONDON: To Shilpa Shetty it must have seemed like another typical Bollywood-style happy ending as Jade Goody, who reduced her to tears with her rude behaviour and occasionally racist jibes, paid the price for it with British television viewers voting with their feet to evict her from the Celebrity Big Brother show in a head-to-head clash with the Indian actor on Friday night.
The widely-predicted outcome was a tame end to an ugly episode, which sparked a near-diplomatic row with New Delhi and forced liberal Britons to confront racism that non-whites face in daily life.
Ms. Goody, who had been forewarned of what to expect as the voting began, tried to put on a brave face when the result was declared and she was told: "Jade, you'll be leaving the house shortly."
But as the reality of having been kicked out by 82 per cent of the viewers dawned on her, she struggled to hold back her tears while fellow contestants, including Ms. Shetty, took turns to offer comforting words — and that farewell mandatory hug.
Looked shocked
At a post-eviction "debriefing" by Channel 4, Ms. Goody looked shocked as clips of her behaviour and the reaction to it were played to her.
"I look like a complete and utter nasty small person — the sort of person I don't like myself," she said but denied allegations of racism. "I am not a racist and I sincerely, with my hand on my heart, apologise to anyone I have offended out there," she added sounding intensely contrite in a replay of her kiss-and-make-up conversation with Ms. Shetty earlier in the day after it became certain that, come evening, and she would be out.
Her act of contrition was seen as a desperate attempt to save her career after a perfume named after her was removed from shops and she feared losing more sponsors. "I don't know what to do," she said in between sobs.
Before the eviction, Ms. Shetty and Ms. Goody were summoned together to speak to the Big Brother. With Ms. Goody by her side, Ms. Shetty again clarified that her allegation of racism was the result of a "misunderstanding". "The air is clear now," she said prompting Ms. Goody to ask the Big Brother for a bottle of champagne to celebrate the occasion.
Hate figure
Twenty-five-year-old Ms. Goody, a mother of two, became such a hate figure in recent days as visuals of her antics were seen around the world that Channel 4, fearing for her safety, took the unprecedented step of banning crowds outside the CBB house.
``From hero to zero''
"Jade lurches from hero to zero" declared The Times amid a continuing torrent of condemnation of her behaviour towards Ms. Shetty. A poll in The Guardian showed that 55 per cent of the people believed that her conduct was "not typical of modern Britain."
There was also widespread criticism of Channel 4 for standing by and watching as Ms. Shetty was subjected to racist bullying. More than half of those polled said the channel had "engineered the clashes to gain viewing figures."
May go to India
Meanwhile, there was speculation that Ms. Goody could end up going to India to do a reality show — possibly appear in the Indian version of Big Brother, Big Boss — to boost its flagging viewership.
The widely-predicted outcome was a tame end to an ugly episode, which sparked a near-diplomatic row with New Delhi and forced liberal Britons to confront racism that non-whites face in daily life.
Ms. Goody, who had been forewarned of what to expect as the voting began, tried to put on a brave face when the result was declared and she was told: "Jade, you'll be leaving the house shortly."
But as the reality of having been kicked out by 82 per cent of the viewers dawned on her, she struggled to hold back her tears while fellow contestants, including Ms. Shetty, took turns to offer comforting words — and that farewell mandatory hug.
Looked shocked
At a post-eviction "debriefing" by Channel 4, Ms. Goody looked shocked as clips of her behaviour and the reaction to it were played to her.
"I look like a complete and utter nasty small person — the sort of person I don't like myself," she said but denied allegations of racism. "I am not a racist and I sincerely, with my hand on my heart, apologise to anyone I have offended out there," she added sounding intensely contrite in a replay of her kiss-and-make-up conversation with Ms. Shetty earlier in the day after it became certain that, come evening, and she would be out.
Her act of contrition was seen as a desperate attempt to save her career after a perfume named after her was removed from shops and she feared losing more sponsors. "I don't know what to do," she said in between sobs.
Before the eviction, Ms. Shetty and Ms. Goody were summoned together to speak to the Big Brother. With Ms. Goody by her side, Ms. Shetty again clarified that her allegation of racism was the result of a "misunderstanding". "The air is clear now," she said prompting Ms. Goody to ask the Big Brother for a bottle of champagne to celebrate the occasion.
Hate figure
Twenty-five-year-old Ms. Goody, a mother of two, became such a hate figure in recent days as visuals of her antics were seen around the world that Channel 4, fearing for her safety, took the unprecedented step of banning crowds outside the CBB house.
``From hero to zero''
"Jade lurches from hero to zero" declared The Times amid a continuing torrent of condemnation of her behaviour towards Ms. Shetty. A poll in The Guardian showed that 55 per cent of the people believed that her conduct was "not typical of modern Britain."
There was also widespread criticism of Channel 4 for standing by and watching as Ms. Shetty was subjected to racist bullying. More than half of those polled said the channel had "engineered the clashes to gain viewing figures."
May go to India
Meanwhile, there was speculation that Ms. Goody could end up going to India to do a reality show — possibly appear in the Indian version of Big Brother, Big Boss — to boost its flagging viewership.
Source : Hindu
posted by anandsonline @ Sunday, January 21, 2007
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