Was this a worthy win for Shilpa?

I am not surprised that Bollywood beauty Shilpa Shetty has won the Celebrity Big Brother in the UK. After all she had all the sympathy votes going for her after becoming a victim of racist bullying by fellow contestant Jade Goody.

The Indian actor, whose culture, speech and birthplace had been mocked by other contestants, was declared winner of the gameshow with 63% of the final vote.

The bigger question is do we need such a show? A show where a group of people are constantly monitored, every word they say captured, all their moves recorded. What is the purpose of this show?

As for Shilpa, I honestly thought the reason to have her in the show was just a gimmick by the producers to attract the burgeoning Asian viewers in the UK.

When I was there, many of my uni-mates, especially the Asians, enjoyed watching the show and an internal survey by the station did indicate that more can be done to attract these pool of viewers to flush their money in voting for their favourite contestants.

Well done for the masterstroke! The business acumen has been proven right. My fear now is that it will just create a bigger wedge between the locals and the Asian migrant communities in the UK.

More locals are going to be upset that locals were outvoted in this programme and next year what is there to stop them to blindly support a local over others?

Believe me, I see that happening.

As for Shilpa, well done. Maybe now she can try to get into some of the TV series in the UK too.

After all she has cooed the Brits with her response over the racist attacks:

She said:

"Jade did not mean to be racist. I really don't want to leave England getting anyone into trouble. I just want to thank the whole of Great Britain for giving me the opportunity to make my country proud."

Her response to the racists attacks drew this comment from the Guardian:

“This remarkably graceful speech raises three possibilities. Shetty is such a good actor that they should give her the 2007 Oscar now...or she was saying what she really believes. Or she was cannily responding to racists in the manner calculated to make them most uneasy: showing an intelligence and graciousness they will never acquire.”

Read more about her win here and here.