SHILPA Shetty’s performance on Celebrity Big Brother has been hailed as a turning point in defeating racism.
The stunning Bollywood star beat her tormentors Jade Goody and Jo O’Meara to a place in the final.
Now the Indian actress looks set to become the nation’s sweetheart after she dealt with racism and bullying with good grace and humour.
Showbusiness insiders say she will be flooded with film and TV work after he stint on the show.
Just hours before the final, Shilpa, 31, told Big Brother: “Each one of us in this house deserves to win it. If I win it, it will be God’s grace, my destiny and the audience's love.
“I don’t want to think about it because they say expectation is the root cause of all sorrow. So I don’t want to expect it and then be sad.
“If it happens, it happens, and if it doesn’t, it’s okay.”
Social commentators said the outcome proved we are a tolerant nation despite the vile scenes which caused outrage.
They highlighted Shilpa’s result as the ONLY good thing to come out of the show.
Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Commission For Equality And Human Rights, said: “It’s great Shilpa made it all the way to the final.
“We haven’t yet defeated racism in our country — but last night’s vote shows that we are determined to beat the scourge of bigotry and to drive prejudice from our shores.
“We should be congratulating Shilpa. It has taken a woman from a former colony, thousands of miles away to remind us of what we most value about being British.”
Labour MP Khalid Mahmood said: “It is indeed good that the show has raised the issue of racism. But it has left a bad taste that Channel 4 deliberately allowed the issue to develop for rating purposes.
“People in the UK are the most tolerant in Europe on race issues and I think that needs to be reflected.”
Education Secretary Alan Johnson said Big Brother had ‘hammered home’ the need for teenagers to be taught “British values” - to combat racist and ignorant attitudes
He added: “The current debate has been good in one way - it had highlighted the need to make sure schools focus on the core British values of justice and tolerance.
“We want the world to be talking about the respect and understanding we give all cultures, not the ignorance and bigotry shown on our TV screens.”
Shiraz Chakera, of the General Teaching Council for England, added: “Celebrity Big Brother has allowed us to discuss and explore the low-level racism that floats around in our society.
“We should do more to tackle the problem in schools and teach children to rise above the problem.”
But fury at the TV executives who allowed the bullying to carry on for so long did not calm down. Religious leaders also added their voices to the debate - saying that the reality show had shown that a lot of work needs to be done to improve tolerance in Britain.
The Archbishop of York John Sentamu said: “This Big Brother row has exposed an ugly underbelly in society.
“It has highlighted how people are only too ready to point the finger at the foreigner, or those who might not fit in. Shilpa showed remarkable grace in how she reacted to bullying. She dealt with it well.” More than 46,000 people complained after Jade, Jo and Danielle Lloyd were seen making racist comments about Shilpa.
Former S Club singer Jo, 27, claimed people in India are skinny because they undercook their food and get sick.
Meanwhile, ex-Miss GB Danielle, 23, said Shilpa should “f*** off home”.
Jade, 25, spent 33 minutes shouting at Shilpa during Oxogate and later admitted: “It was racist”. Channel 4’s executive board are now investigating the show.
But yesterday bookies were forced to cut odds on C4 chief executive Andy Duncan resigning before C4 chairman Luke Johnson from 8/11 to 1/2 after a sudden string of bets.
Ladbrokes said: “There has been a flurry of bets from punters in South London.
“We’ve been forced to take note as all the wagers have been within a five mile radius - somebody may know something we don’t.”
The housemates spent yesterday preening themselves for the final. Nervous Dirk even suggested the eviction crowd might be fake.
He said: “How much do they pay them to turn up? They're actors! They would yell exactly what I want them to yell. And vegan Dirk encouraged them to start a chant: “Rice rules. Rice rules. Rice Rules.”
