[Mrluvaluva]

From www.metro.co.uk

Pop star Jo O'Meara stepped out in public for the first time since the Big Brother race row when she went to a gala performance in aid of BBC Comic Relief.

O'Meara put on a brave smile for the photographers as she arrived to see Rik Mayall as Alan B'Stard in The New Statesman at the New Wimbledon Theatre in south-west London.

As she went in she told the Press Association: "Comic Relief has always been important to me, it's something I've always done, as a band with S Club (7), and while solo. It's a nice thing to get involved with."

She said she hoped the row over the supposed attitude of herself and Jade Goody to Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty had now run its course.

"I think it's time for me to move on, and concentrate on getting back to work, and I hope the public will feel the same way," she said.

"I've apologised, I've said sorry if I offended anybody, but nothing racist went on in the house - it was bad editing."

The play was on its first night of a national tour, which takes in 14 other venues, finishing at Milton Keynes on July 14.