TV eviction cast as victory for good in racism row

LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) The eviction of a British reality TV show contestant accused of racism and bullying was cast today as a victory of good over bad, and took the sting out of the international furore over ''Celebrity Big Brother''.

The hit series dominated headlines in Britain and India this week after former dental nurse Jade Goody and other contestants ganged up on Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, calling her ''the Indian'' and ''Poppadom'' and saying ''She should fuck off home''.

Britain's media watchdog received around 40,000 complaints from viewers, top politicians weighed into the row and a major sponsor of the programme withdrew its backing.

A contrite Goody, 25, denied she was a racist or a bully in her post-eviction interview late yesterday, when the extent of the controversy was revealed to her for the first time.

Contestants are sealed off from the outside world in a house where cameras follow their every move 24 hours a day.

''I can't dignify myself because that video footage of myself is nasty,'' she said. ''I'm not going to sit here and try and justify myself. Yes, I said those things and they were nasty.

''I am not a racist and I sincerely ... apologise to anybody I've offended out there.'' Shetty's publicist Dale Bhagwagar called Goody a ''fool''.

''The voting proves good has prevailed over bad,'' he told Reuters in India.

British tabloids agreed, with the Sun declaring ''Goody Riddance'' and the Mirror calling her ''A Bigot and a Fake''.

Goody rose to fame after taking part in a non-celebrity version of ''Big Brother'' in 2002, and suggested even before leaving the house that she would pay a price for her behaviour.

''It was the beginning of my career and it's the end of my career,'' she said.

INTENSE DEBATE Internet chatrooms have been abuzz with debate about whether what was said on the show constituted racism, and to what extent Goody and her allies reflected prejudices in society at large.

Many people felt the story was exaggerated by the media.

The show's producers said 82 percent of voters had chosen Londoner Goody for eviction over the other nominee, Shetty, in what is being seen as a stand against racial intolerance.

British media had harsh words for Channel 4, which airs the show, and the production company Endemol , saying Goody's exit appeared to have been stage-managed.

They also criticised the decision to ban the crowds that traditionally greet evictees outside the Big Brother house, and to cancel a news conference.

Channel 4, which saw viewing figures peak at 8.8 million on Friday evening compared with around 3.5 million before the controversy began, had been under pressure to act.

A poll conducted for the Guardian newspaper suggested most people thought the channel should have intervened to protect Shetty. Some 55 per cent believed the insults directed at the 31-year-old Indian film star were not typical of modern Britain.

But Trevor Phillips, head of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights, saw the show as evidence of a wider problem.

''This programme has laid bare the dark heart of private prejudice that all too often sits behind the public veneer of tolerance,'' he said this week.

REUTERS MS RK2000