So, as expected, Shilpa Shetty won the latest series of Celebrity Big Brother (is it just me, or does it feel like this series has been running for five and half years?), presumably aided by the "I'm not racist, honest guvnor" vote. The house's other ethnic minority contestant, Jermaine Jackson, came second. Aren't we a well rounded multi-cultural nation?
With Jade Goody still busy busy in her post-CBB "I'm so sorry" PR efforts, the other contestants accused of making racist remarks against Shetty while on the reality show also faced the music as they left the house this weekend. Glamour model and WAG Danielle Lloyd, evicted last night, followed the Jade Goody line of "sorry, sorry, sorry, I'm not racist, but I'm so very very sorry", but former S Clubber Jo O'Meara was less apologetic, saying she regretted nothing and, despite what anyone says or thinks, that she was no racist and had not been racist while in the house.
To be fair, the accusations of racism against Goody, Lloyd and O'Meara, while not necessarily completely unfounded, were certainly greatly exaggerated by the tabloid press, and Shetty herself says she's convinced her housemates were not racist, but either way, O'Meara's unapologetic stand is not going to go down well with the mainstream media, and she can pretty much kiss any career revival plans goodbye.
It didn't help that the Asian husband of one of her cousins, Dilip Drayan, a friendship with whom was cited by O'Meara on the show as a reason why she was not racist, told the Daily Record this weekend: "Jo should never have said that Indians are skinny because they don't cook food properly. That was a racist comment. It was wrong. She needs to take it back and apologise. The way she behaved sadly showed her true colours. I'm not going to stick up for Jo. She needs a ticking off for some of the things she said".
Despite the furore surrounding the latest Big Brother series, the final edition (at which both Goody and O'Meara were noticeable by their absence - all former housemates usually show up for the finale) didn't manage to win the ratings war for Channel 4, it being up against the new series of BBC 2's Top Gear. Alas, Channel 4 might boast mild racists on its team, but they failed to deliver a presenter all but killing themselves in a dramatic high speed crash. Slackers.