Celebrity Big Brother (British TV series) series 5

Celebrity Big Brother 2007 is the fifth series of the United Kingdom reality television series Celebrity Big Brother, a spin-off of Big Brother. The series is currently broadcasting on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom (also on S4C in Wales), and involves a number of so-called celebrities referred to as housemates, who live in the Big Brother House with no contact with the outside world. In recent series, the show's producers have offered celebrities money to appear on Celebrity Big Brother.

Celebrity Big Brother 2007 started on 3 January 2007, and will run for 25 days. The launch show peaked at 8.2 million viewers, making it the second most-watched launch in Big Brother history. It is the first Celebrity Big Brother series to be shown in the 16:9 widescreen format.

As of 16 January 2007 this series has attracted the largest ever number of public complaints to the UK broadcasting watchdog Ofcom about a Big Brother series. Complainers stated that housemate Shilpa Shetty had been subjected to bullying, allegedly with undertones of racism. This sparked widespread anger and demonstrations in India, where the alleged racism was reported on the news, and led Big Brother's main sponsor Carphone Warehouse to sever ties with the show. As of January 19, 2007, a Channel 4 spokesman agreed that participants should be made aware of the controversy, probably explaining the recent explanations and apologies tendered by the housemates and their complete lack of surprise after learning about the latest eviction.

As in earlier series, Davina McCall presents the main Channel 4 show. Dermot O'Leary presents Celebrity Big Brother's Little Brother and Celebrity Big Brother's Big Brain. Russell Brand presents Celebrity Big Brother's Big Mouth. Celebrity Big Brother Diary Room Uncut, and live streaming also returned on the Official Channel 4 website and also on E4 at selected times.

The House

House plan with the House Next Door highlighted.

The general layout of the House is largely untouched from the previous non-celebrity series. The living room and bedroom have no noticeable changes. There are several single beds in the same room, with one double bed, meaning that two housemates (Leo & Donny) had to share. The bathroom is much smaller than previous versions and the toilet and shower are no longer fitted with cameras. The dining room table has been moved inside, and the kitchen is fully equipped with modern conveniences. Outside the garden is a three-jet hot tub with a farmyard seating area. The bridge to Nowhere is still present, leading to a sitting area with heated seats and the topiary man. A workout area is situated just off the kitchen area. Inside the House there is also a fax machine built into the wall. This is currently being used, when viewers will be invited to post questions to the housemates. Meanwhile, the Diary Room is identical to the previous summer's Big Brother, with an oversized gold chair and padded walls. There has also been an addition of yellow lights facing the walls. The House Next Door is in use again, and its interior was re-designed to resemble a Victorian style kitchen, with uncomfortable beds in the bedroom, for use in the master-and-servant task.

Contestants

Eleven housemates entered the Celebrity Big Brother house on Day 1 followed by three more housemates on Day 3. This is more than any other celebrity series to date (the regular series in 2006 has had fourteen housemates enter on Day 1). The housemates in Celebrity Big Brother 2007 are (in order of entry to the house):

Jermaine Jackson

Jermaine Jackson (born December 11, 1954, also known as Muhammed Abdul Aziz) is an American R'n'B singer, former member of The Jackson 5 and brother of pop stars Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. On the launch show, Davina revealed that Jermaine's favourite tube line was the Central Line. In the house several of the housemates have commented that Jermaine is very shy and they are therefore finding difficulty in attempting to converse with him. Jermaine was a master during the Master and Servant task.

Danielle Lloyd

Danielle Lloyd (born Liverpool 16 December, 1983) is an English model and former Miss Great Britain (2006), stripped of her title for dating a panel judge, footballer Teddy Sheringham, and posing for Playboy. Danielle was a peasant during the Master and Servant task. She's accused of bullying her fellow house mate Shilpa Shetty, along with Jade Goody and Jo O'Meara

Ken Russell

Ken Russell (born July 3, 1927) is an English director of such films as The Music Lovers, The Devils, The Boy Friend, Lisztomania, and Tommy, and at age 79 was the oldest male contestant in the programme's history. Since entering the house Ken prevented many of the other housemates from sleeping, due to his excessive snoring. Danielle informed Ken of his snoring on Day 3 which led to many of the housemates pondering over a solution. On Day 5 at 14:55, he voluntarily left the house after arguing with new housemate Jade Goody and her family.

Jo O'Meara

Jo O'Meara (born April 29, 1979) was previously a member of the pop group S Club 7 and a former contestant on Just the Two of Us. She also had a brief solo career before pursuing a career in dog breeding. O'Meara was a servant during the 'Master and Servant' task. She has come in for criticism for ganging up with Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd, and others on fellow housemate Shilpa Shetty, who has been subjected to bullying in the house, despite maintaining that she and Shetty are friends.

Leo Sayer

Leo Sayer (born May 21, 1948) is a singer who had success in the 1970s with hits such as "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing", "Moonlighting" and "Thunder In My Heart". Leo found it difficult to sleep on his first night in the house as he was forced to share a bed with Donny who was naked, a prospect that Leo found uncomfortable. Leo was a servant during the Master and Servant task. He reverted to mime communication and decided to take a vow of silence, much to the confusion and annoyance of the other housemates. Leo escaped from the house by breaking open a fire door with a broom after hitting a two-way mirror on Day 10 when Big Brother refused to provide him with clean underwear. It was revealed later that he had overlooked clean underwear in his suitcase. He was at the time up for eviction and, though he did not know it, leading the poll.

Shilpa Shetty

Shilpa Shetty (born June 8, 1975) is an award winning Indian actress and an active AIDS and PETA campaigner. Her native language is Tulu, but she can speak other Indian languages such as Hindi and Kannada. Shilpa was a master and remained in the main house. It was explained on Day 10 that the reason Shilpa wasn't punished alongside Cleo and Carole was because she didn't explicitly tell them to nominate her. Thousands of complaints have been entered to Big Brother suggesting Shilpa has been racially abused by the other housemates. Shetty is the current favourite to win from Paddy Power.

Carole Malone

Carole Malone (born 14 October 1954) is a columnist for the Sunday Mirror. She starred in the 2006 series of Celebrity Fit Club on ITV. On Day 2 Carole broke Big Brother rules by discussing nominations with Shilpa and Cleo,. Carole was a servant during the Master and Servant task. Carole was put up for eviction after being unanimously chosen between her and Cleo by her fellow housemates to face the public vote as punishment for discussing nominations. Carole was evicted on Day 10. Carole has revealed that her real age is in fact 52 and not 47.

Donny Tourette

Donny Tourette is the lead singer of Towers of London, a punk rock band from London. He staggered into the house in a drunken state and instantly breached Big Brother rules when his stash of alcohol was removed from his suitcase. Donny escaped from the Big Brother House on 5 January 2007 by climbing over the garden wall in the House Next Door with the help of 'H' from Steps, saying "I'm not waiting hand on foot on some fucking moron and her family" as he climbed over. His clothes and belongings were left in the diary room by a fellow contestant.

Ian "H" Watkins

Ian "H" Watkins (born May 8, 1976) is a Welsh actor and was previously a member of the pop group Steps. He is noted for also coming out as homosexual to The Sun on the same day as he entered the house. Ian was a servant during the Master and Servant task.

Cleo Rocos

Cleo Rocos (born July 24, 1962 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is a comic actress who appeared on The Kenny Everett Television Show. Cleo has developed a maternal role in the house and tends to look after the younger housemates and do such things as cook and clean for them, which was first pointed out by Ian and Jo on Day 2. On Day 2, Cleo broke Big Brother rules by discussing nominations with Shilpa and Carole. As punishment, the rest of the housemates (except Carole but including Shilpa) were made to vote unanimously on who should face the public vote. Cleo was not chosen. Cleo was a servant during the Master and Servant task. She is currently second favourite to win. In battle of the tribute bands she was in Jermaine's group as a member of the Jackson 5, the group won.

Dirk Benedict

Dirk Benedict (born March 1, 1945) is an American actor who played Face in The A-Team and Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica. Dirk made a unique entrance to the house by arriving via (a replica of) The A-Team van, smoking a cigar and with the theme tune playing in the background. A memorable moment occurred a few minutes after he arrived in the house, when a drunk Donny said "It's Dirk fucking Benedict", to which Dirk responded "I seldom use my middle name". Dirk made no secret of his attraction to Shilpa, even saying that he would marry her in a moment, although his attention and flirting with her was lighthearted and not excessive. On Day 2 a comic feel surrounded Dirk as Shilpa learned to pronounce his name. Dirk was a servant during the Master and Servant task.

Jade Goody

Jade Goody (born June 5, 1981) entered the house on Friday January 5. Jade first rose to fame when she appeared in the third UK series of Big Brother and since then has gone on to have a successful career in the media industry. Jade was a master during the Master and Servant task. According to the Daily Mirror, she has been stripped of her patronage of an Anti-Bullying Charity because she is alleged to have bullied Shilpa Shetty . She was evicted on Day 17, Big Brother producers and Endemol had decided not to have a live crowd present nor the usual press conference to enable them to brief Jade Goody on the recent racism allegations. It is widely suspected she was evicted due to her alleged racist comments made towards fellow contestent Shilpa Shetty.

Jack Tweed

Jack Andrew Tweed (born July 1, 1987 in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire) is the boyfriend of Jade Goody and entered the house on Friday January 5 as part of Jade's family. He was a master during the Master and Servant task. Jack left school at the age of 16, to become an electrician like his father, however, he soon changed career to male modelling. He is currently training to be a footballers' agent. He has courted controversy over his "fucking cunt" comment and suggesting that Shilpa remove objects from the toilet with her teeth and after Jade apologised to Shilpa (on day 16), Jack continued to verbally abuse Shilpa. Jack confessed that he was very disappointed with Jade for apologising to Shilpa and called Shilpa a “Dick”. He also previously described Shilpa as a "wanker".

Jackiey Budden

Jackiey Budden (born April 1958) entered the house on Friday January 5. Jackiey was a master during the Master and Servant task. Jackiey caused a slight stir in the house, and upset both her daughter Jade and fellow housemates Shilpa and Ken with her demanding attitude and garrulous personality . She was unable to correctly pronounce Shilpa's name, so instead referred to her as "Princess" and "The Indian". On Day 8, Jackiey became the first housemate to be evicted from the Big Brother house in a surprise eviction; Jackiey left the house via the diary room and was unable to say goodbye to her fellow housemates. There was no crowd present at Jackiey's eviction and she left the house without any shoes.

Weekly summary and highlights

Week 1

On Day 1 the eleven housemates entered the house. Upon entering the house the housemates began to converse and socialise with one another while Donny, who appeared to be drunk, jumped into the house Jacuzzi fully clothed. He also demanded the other housemates nearby sang Christmas songs; they did so, albeit in a slightly bemused fashion. When the housemates' suitcases arrived on Day 2, Donny discovered that his secret stash of red wine had been removed from his suitcase as it was a breach of the Big Brother rules. Donny greatly protested the removal of his personal property but Big Brother informed him that the alcohol would not be returned.

On Day 3, Big Brother informed Cleo, Carole, and Shilpa that they had all discussed nominations and that they would be punished. The housemates were informed that they were to pack a small suitcase each that must last them three days and three nights. Big Brother announced that eight of the current housemates were to move to the House Next Door while the remaining three housemates were to stay in the main house. Danielle, Jo, Leo, Carole, Donny, Ian, Cleo and Dirk moved into the house next door and will become servants to the masters in the main house: Jermaine, Shilpa and Ken who were joined by Jade, her boyfriend Jack and her mother Jackiey. The housemates within the main house are now all classed as members of Jade's family and unknown to them, they are all up for eviction in which the public must vote to save a housemate rather than vote to evict. The housemate with the lowest number of votes will be evicted on 10 January 2007. On Day 3, in the evening, in scenes reminiscent of Sandy Cumming from Big Brother 3, Donny scaled the walls of the house, out of the garden to freedom, saying "I'm not waiting hand on foot, on some fucking moron and her family" as he climbed over.

Week 2

On Day 5, Ken Russell voluntarily left the house after arguing with Jade Goody and her family. He left the house at 14:55 on Day 5. On Day 5, Jade's grandparents came to the Big Brother house for dinner, they did not stay in the house and left after the meal.

On Day 6, the housemates were informed that they had passed the Masters and Servants task.

On Day 8, Jackiey was evicted from the Big Brother House. Jackiey was called to the Diary Room and informed she would leave the House via the Diary Room and would not say goodbye to her fellow housemates; the housemates observed Jackiey's eviction on the plasma screen in the kitchen.

On Day 9, the housemates nominated for the first time with Carole, Dirk and Leo facing the public vote to evict. Carole faced the vote automatically after it was revealed that she and Cleo had discussed nominations, the housemates were instructed to choose one of the pair to face the public vote.

On Day 10, after Big Brother refused to provide him with clean underwear, Leo Sayer announced he was quitting the show and forced his way out of the house by smashing the glass tube on the garden fire door. He proceeded to argue with security officers and programme producers before finally being granted his wish not to return. Carole was evicted with 77.4% of the vote.

Week 3

During the week, the television series generated controversy due to accusations of bullying and racism against the housemate Shilpa Shetty.

On Day 13, housemates were required to complete an assault course in under nine minutes. The housemates failed this task and received a basic shopping budget. On Day 15, housemates were set a task to divide into groups and create abstract art to express their emotions. They passed the task and received champagne as a reward.

On Day 15 housemates nominated and on Day 16 it was announced that Jade and Shilpa were up for eviction. On Day 17, housemates were given a task to use their voices to perform William Tell Overture, which they passed. Later that day, Jade became the third person to be evicted from the house with 82% of the votes. Due to the controversy at the time, her eviction was not attended by a live audience.

Housemate summary table

	Day 3	Day 9	Day 15	Day x
Cleo	No nominations	Banned	Shilpa Jade
Danielle	No nominations	Leo Dirk	Shilpa Dirk
Dirk	No nominations	Ian Jermaine	Jade Jermaine
Ian	No nominations	Leo Dirk	Danielle Jade
Jack	No nominations	Shilpa Dirk	Shilpa Dirk
Jermaine	No nominations	Jo Danielle	Jade Jo
Jo	No nominations	Leo Jack	Shilpa Dirk
Shilpa	No nominations	Jack Leo	Jade Jack
Jade	No nominations	Shilpa Dirk	Shilpa Dirk	Evicted (Day 17)
Carole	No nominations	Banned	Evicted (Day 10)
Leo	No nominations	Jack Jo	Walked (Day 10)
Jackiey	No nominations	Evicted (Day 8)
Ken	Walked (Day 5)
Donny	Walked (Day 3)
Nomination twist	See Note 1	See Note 2	See Note 3
Against public vote	Jack Jackiey Jade Jermaine Ken Shilpa	Carole Dirk Leo	Jade Shilpa
Walked	Donny Ken	Leo
Evicted & Vote %	Jackiey 4.6% to save	Carole 77.4% to evict	Jade 82.0% to evict

Notes

Template:Fnb When Jade, Jack, and Jackiey entered the house they became "masters" along with Jermaine, Ken, and Shilpa. The other eight housemates were chosen to be their "servants" and moved to the House Next Door. It was revealed that the masters are automatically nominated for eviction in which the viewers are to vote which housemates to save, rather than evicted. Therefore, the housemate with the least number of votes is evicted. Donny, who was originally a servant, left the house on Day 3. On Day 5, Ken voluntarily left after being involved in arguments with housemates.

Template:Fnb Carole and Cleo were banned from nominating as a punishment for discussing nominations earlier. Additionally, housemates had to choose one of them to face the public vote. They chose Carole. On Day 10, Leo escaped the house.

Template:Fnb The nominations were cast on Day 15 and announced on Day 16. The voting package was delayed and only shown at the end of Big Brother's Big Mouth where it was also revealed that all Channel 4's profits for this vote will go to charity.

Accusations of racism

File:Jade5.gif

Jade Goody being interviewed after her eviction about the alleged racism.

This series of Celebrity Big Brother has been heavily criticised by both fans and the media. Much of the criticism is focused around the treatment of Shilpa by the other housemates.

UK media regulator Ofcom has received a record of more than 50,000 complaints, with Channel 4 receiving an additional 3,000 complaints, about racism by housemates against Shilpa Shetty. The Eastern Eye newspaper launched an online petition that has registered over 30,000 signatures. Channel 4 initially described the situation as "girly rivalry" but later admitted there had "undoubtedly been a cultural clash between her and three of the British females in the house".

Leicester East MP Keith Vaz has tabled an Early Day Motion with parliament addressing this issue, while Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has condemned the attacks.[1] Tony Blair refused to comment on the issue as he has not been watching the show, although he did condemn racism in all its forms. The government of India has stated that it will take "action as required".[2]

London mayor Ken Livingstone weighed in on the controversy by stating "The racism towards Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother is completely unacceptable." He went on to accuse the producers of the program of selectively editing the show "to broadcast participants' racist comments".

Such controversy has sparked a nationwide sympathy towards the contestant with online bookies 'BetFair' slashing Shilpa Shetty's odds making her favourite to win in front of Brazilian Cleo Rocos .

The accusations are based on the following actions:

• Jade Goody's mother, Jackiey, repeatedly referred to Shilpa as "the Indian" or "Princess" while she was on the show because she was unable to pronounce her name.

• Jack Tweed called Shilpa Shetty a "fucking [expletive]", with the bleeped-out expletive variously reported as "cunt" [3] and "Paki". [4]

• On Days 11 and 12, Danielle Lloyd and Jo O'Meara poked fun at Shilpa's accent. . Lloyd has also referred to Shilpa as a "dog".

• Jo implied that all Indians were thin because they were always ill as a result of undercooking their food because she believed Shilpa undercooked a chicken meal.

• Referring to Shilpa using hair bleaching cream on her face, Danielle said "she's trying to make her face look white."

• After an argument between Shilpa and Jade, witnessed by a giggling Jo and Danielle, Danielle said she thought Shilpa should "just fuck off home" and (in response to Shilpa's recommendation that Jade take etiquette lessons) that Shilpa could not speak English properly. She also mentioned to Jo that she didn't like Shilpa touching her food because "you don't know where her hands have been". Danielle later apologised in the Diary Room after Big Brother questioned her on the comment. The next morning, Danielle spoke to Shilpa about the situation, but did not apologise. During the conversation in the bedroom, Jade entered, sat in front of Danielle, blocking out Shilpa, and began doing makeup. As Shilpa left, Danielle told Jade that she "tried apologising to her". Later Danielle made an awkward attempt to apologize by saying "I feel really bad, I feel disgusted with myself the way I've treated you and the way I've acted, because I'm not like that, Shilpa, really," ... "And you can even cook me curry and you can pick the onions out with your fingers."

• After an argument between Jade and Shilpa, Jade referred to Shilpa's sari as "a duvet".

• Jade referred to Shilpa as, among other things, 'Shilpa Popadom' and "Shilpa Fuckawala". She later said she had done this with no intention of racism. Although creating more offensive names in the Diary Room during this, she apologised if her actions had offended anybody.

• Even after Jade apologised to Shilpa (On day 16), Jack continued to verbally abuse Shilpa. Jack confessed to he was very disappointed with Jade for apologising to Shilpa and called Shilpa a “Dick”. He previously described Shilpa as a wanker. ."

Media reaction

Some media outlets initially believed the issue stemmed from 'girlish rivalry'. Various media outlets later blamed it on bullying and racism. The Daily Mirror published an editorial on 18 January 2007 called Beauty V Bigot, deploring what they referred to as "disgraceful racist bullying of Big Brother's Shilpa Shetty" and criticised Channel 4 management for maintaining that there wasn't a racial element to the bullying. As time progressed, the majority of media coverage on Goody became negative, although accusations of racism were superseded by those of bullying. The British tabloids almost completely concentrated on the comments made by Goody, ignoring those made by Jack, Danielle and Jo towards Shilpa, as well as the bullying from them. For instance, when Jade and Shilpa were arguing over Oxo cubes, Shilpa pleaded with Jo for assistance by saying “Jo, I mean, are you going to say something here what is happening here?” to which Jo responded by bursting out laughing into Shilpa's face. Jermaine later said “when all this was going on I saw Danielle and Jo laughing and then branded them as “the allies”. Dirk described the two as Jade’s “little army”.

At the same time, controversy was arising over Shetty, with op-ed piece in prominent leftist English broadsheet The Guardian accusing her of being the antagonist [5], a view which has been shared by some members of the public. Most criticism focused on Shetty can be narrowed to the followed extract:

Shilpa is a very good actress. Everyone hates her because she wants them to. She also knows that if she infuriates people enough, their innate racism will spew forth.

— Germaine Greer, The Guardian

Public reaction in India

In response to the alleged racism being directed at actress Shilpa Shetty in the Big Brother House, protesters took to the streets in India and burned effigies of the show's organisers. The Indian Government also plans to raise the issue with the British Government.

Police investigation

According to the BBC Shetty confided in fellow housemate Cleo Rocos that she feared the arguments between Goody, O'Meara, Lloyd and herself was the result of her race. After being told by Cleo that this was unlikely, Shilpa retorted by saying "It is, I'm telling you". But as of the 18th of January Shilpa has yet to lodge an official complaint of racist behaviour to Big Brother. Yet Shetty's admission has forced police to investigate whether or not to classify her treatment as 'racial hatred' under Part III of the Public Order Act 1986.

Hertfordshire police said in a statement that it was

"Investigating allegations of racist behaviour in the Big Brother house and will be conducting enquiries, including a review of the tapes. We will continue to liaise with Ofcom and with Endemol, whom we have strongly encouraged to ensure that any form of behaviour that could raise similar concerns, does not occur. We will continue to closely monitor the situation over the next few days. Hertfordshire Constabulary will not tolerate racism in any form and is taking these allegations seriously. The constabulary has experience of investigating and resolving incidents in the Big Brother house in past seasons."

Shetty later withdrew her claims of racism, stating she did not think Jade was being racist during their argument. However, Shetty is unaware of all the alleged insults levelled against her, often done behind her back.

Contestants

The three girls under most scrutiny for racist accusations have repeatedly stated, amongst each other and the other housemates, that they feel that Shilpa is a 'fake' and a 'phony'. [6] They have vehemently repeated that this is the reason that they most dislike Shilpa, and claim that this is the reason for their rivalry for her. They have also accused Shilpa of arrogance.

Sponsor and corporate backlash

On 18 January, The Carphone Warehouse suspended its sponsorship of Celebrity Big Brother with immediate effect over the alleged racism. This does not however, entitle the Carphone Warehouse to recoup prepaid sponsorship monies, therefore causing minimal financial damage to Channel 4 [7][8] The company's chief executive, Charles Dunstone, said in a statement:

"Our concern has rapidly mounted about the broadcast behaviour of individuals within the Big Brother house.

We are totally against all forms of racism and bullying and indeed this behaviour is entirely at odds with the brand values of the Carphone Warehouse. As a result we feel that as long as this continues we are unable to associate our brand with the programme.

We had already made it clear to Channel 4 that were this to continue, we would have to consider our position. Nothing we saw last night gave us any comfort.

Accordingly we have instructed Channel 4 to remove our sponsorship name and branding with immediate effect."

Fragrance chain The Perfume Shop announced they are to withdraw Jade Goody's brand of perfume, Shh..., from their stores. Pharmacy chain Boots and Debenhams department stores followed suit and also pulled the perfume from their shelves.

Motorcycle insurance firm Bennetts terminated its six-figure agreement with Danielle Lloyd to be the spokes model for their company. A firm spokesperson is quoted as saying:

"Bennetts is strongly opposed to any form of racism and bullying." ... "In light of the accusations which have been made against Miss Lloyd, it has taken the decision to terminate its arrangements with her."

Hertsmere Borough Council, the owners of Big Brother's studios in Elstree have threatened to evict the show from the site.

Golden Discs have removed Jade's Workout DVD from all its stores in the Republic of Ireland.

Two other sponsors of the show, Beauty-boxes.com and Zamya aromatherapy products, withdrew sponsorship from the programme.

Jade's apology

In an exclusive interview with the News of the World newspaper, Jade apologised for her behaviour. She admitted that her comments to Shilpa could be seen to be racist. In a tearful state on a video posted on the newspaper's website, Goody said:

I know that things that I don’t think are necessarily racist…could be... And I am sincerely sorry for the pain and hurt I’ve caused to Shilpa’s family. I am wrong… I am wrong and I know that my words and my actions were wrong and I’m not trying to justify that in any way – I am wrong, and the people who have complained are not wrong. They’re just insulted by me and I completely take that criticism.

Ratings

Celebrity Big Brother's launch show (aired on 2007-01-03) averaged 7.1 million viewers, and ratings fell to 3.9 million by 2007-01-07. Ratings quickly rose as media coverage reported alleged racism towards Shilpa Shetty from fellow female contestants; the episode that aired on 2007-01-16 saw a ratings boost with the show sharing 18% of the available audience and ratings of 4.5 million viewers, as the episode aired on the 2007-01-17 is predicted to be Celebrity Big Brother's top ratings grabber. The episode the following night also rose in ratings, as 5.2 million people viewed the episode. The ratings once again rose on the Eviction night to 7.8 million viewers. .

External links

• Celebrity Big Brother at channel4.com
• Digital Spy's coverage of Celebrity Big Brother at digitalspy.co.uk