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Shilpa pleads: Leave Jade alone

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Celebrity Big Brother winner Shilpa Shetty made a plea to the British public today to forgive the housemates accused of racist bullying.

The Bollywood star begged the public to leave Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd and Jo O'Meara alone and said: "They are young, but not racist."

While Shetty, 31, was talking to the press after winning the Channel 4 reality television show, Lloyd - one of the celebrities accused of making racist comments about the Indian actress - burst into the room to ask for forgiveness.

The 23-year-old glamour model said: "I would like to apologise for the words I have said, they were not meant to be racist, I am not racist."

A tearful Shetty accepted her apology. Talking about the race row which engulfed this year's show, Shetty said: "I saw the footage for the first time - it was ghastly.

"But now I just want to move forward in life. Jade Goody is not a bad person. She is just young - people are fallible.

"She is a mother of two and I do not want to see her ruined because of this. It was just a game, we played that game and now it is over."

Shetty, who was greeted by her mother when she left the house, even said she would consider meeting up with her tormentors in the outside world.

PR guru Max Clifford, who is set to take control of Shetty's career in the UK said he had high hopes for the rising star.

He told PA: "She certainly has a great deal of offers already on the table.

"What we now have to discuss is exactly what she wants to do. I will be sitting down with Shilpa and her mother very soon.

"The emphasis will certainly be on quality rather than quantity but there is interest from television and film.

"I think she handled herself excellently while she was in the house. By forgiving her fellow housemates and talking about how she thinks their comments were based on ignorance rather than racism she has taken a huge step."

Also talking to press after the show Jermaine Jackson, 52, revealed he was planning to spend more time in the UK in the future.

He said: "Plans for a Jackson 5 musical show are at an early stage but we are hoping to open it in a London theatre as soon as possible."

Jackson, who came second, also said he hoped his more famous brother Michael had been watching his exploits on the show.

The race row, which came to a head in week three, saw Jade, Jo and Danielle Lloyd accused of bullying Shilpa and attracted widespread condemnation.

Jade sparked allegations of racism by calling her Shilpa Poppadom while her mother Jackiey claimed she could not pronounce the star's name and instead referred to her as "the Indian".

The row prompted a record number of complaints - more than 40,000 - to media watchdog Ofcom.

Even Chancellor Gordon Brown, who was on a tour of India, condemned the behaviour of the housemates towards the actress.

But Channel 4 bosses said the race row saved the show from being "the most boring in years".

Bookies had the Indian actress at 1/6 odds-on favourite to win. A Big Brother spokesman said Shilpa won 63% of the public vote.

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