Big Brother: Jade Voted Out, Shilpa Stays Put
Big Mouth Jade Goody had to bid goodbye to Big Brother after creating quite a furor by her racist comments on Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty. The Shetty girl, riding high on a sympathy wave, had millions gunning for her tormentor Jade. According to estimates, more than five million viewers voted out the illiterate former nurse.
The response was terrific and unprecedented with 82% votes confirming Goody’s eviction from the reality show. Goody did manage some sympathy votes after she cried on the show claiming she was not racist. After the results of eviction were announced, Jade hugged Shilpa and said: “I’ll be alright. I know why it is. It’s because of what I said the other day.”
Chancellor Gordon Brown, on a visit to India told Sky TV that there was strong support for Shilpa, and they were doing enough to get the message across. He said that showing solidarity to Shilpa’s cause was one way of demonstrating Britain’s tolerance and fairness.
Earlier, a major sponsor had withdrawn its support, which spread panic among the Channel 4 ranks. This prompted the Big Brother honcho to playact a rapprochement between the aggressor and victim. The executives went into damage control and in a 90-minute session they extracted a statement from Shetty saying that she did not feel a victim of racial taunts. They also forced Goody to apologize for her conduct. But, the damage had been done, and no amount of post-event sootheners was going to assuage the hurt sentiments.
Ratings shot through the roof, and to beat the accusation of profiteering from the sordid drama, the channel declared that money from the eviction vote in millions will go to charity.