Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has said for the first time she is being racially abused in a British reality TV show which has sparked protests in London and New Delhi and damaged Britain’s image of tolerance. Shetty and her fellow contestants on “Celebrity Big Brother” are oblivious to the international row that has erupted over her treatment as they are cut off from the outside world while on the show, where their antics can be watched 24 hours a day. So while India has asked Britain to check whether race laws have been broken and Shetty’s admirers burned effigies of her alleged abusers — fellow celebrities incarcerated in a house and garden together — Shetty herself had not mentioned race. The issue surfaced on Wednesday night after a row over stock cubes used in their communal cooking in which Shetty’s housemate Danielle Lloyd said: “Shilpa should f*** off home. She can’t even speak English”. British actress and fellow housemate Cleo Rocos, seeking to comfort Shetty, said of the clashes: “I don’t think there’s anything racist in it.” But Shetty replied: “It is, I’m telling you.” Clearly shocked, the 31-year-old actress said: “I am representing my country. Is that what today’s UK is? It’s scary.” The programme’s broadcaster Channel 4 had earlier issued a statement insisting Shetty was not suffering racial abuse but saying there had been a “cultural and class clash”. The show has been a huge ratings success story, but has also provoked 27,000 complaints to Britain’s media watchdog.
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