Jade Goody has been evicted from Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother programme after a week of controversy over alleged racist remarks directed at fellow 'housemate', the Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty.
Shilpa Shetty. Photo: Reuters
The show's presenter Davina McCall announced the news to the remaining contestants a short time ago.
Goody (25) will not be greeted by the usual crowds outside the studio after Channel 4 banned members of the public from attending the eviction due to the controversy this week.
Even Britain's politicians entered the row, with British Chancellor Gordon Brown today saying support for Shetty in tonight's vote would be a sign of Britain's tolerance.
Stepping into the Big Brother racism row for the third day running during his visit to India, Britain's prime minister in waiting stopped short of urging viewers to cast their votes to evict Shetty's main tormentor, Jade Goody, however.
But he made clear that he regarded backing for the Indian actress as a positive way of getting across the message that Britain was "a nation of tolerance and fairness".
Speaking during a visit to a Bollywood film studio in Bombay, Mr Brown said: "There is a lot of support for Shilpa. It is pretty clear we are getting the message across. Britain is a nation of tolerance and fairness."
There will be no public audience at tonight's Celebrity Big Brothereviction due to the "heightened feelings" surrounding the programme, organisers said.
Shetty and Goody have been shortlisted for eviction tonight.
Goody enters the Big Brother house with her boyfriend Jack on January 5th. Photo: John Stillwell/PA Wire
Complaints to media watchdog Ofcom have soared to 40,000 with some of the complaints over editorial bias. But the debate has revived viewing figures for the series, up to 5.7 million for last night's episode.
Explaining its decision to ban the usual crowds from outside the house this evening, Channel 4 said: "Over the past few days Celebrity Big Brother has generated an intense and, at times, heated public debate which the evicted housemate will be unaware of.
"As a result, Channel 4 and Endemol have taken the decision to conduct tonight's eviction in front of a studio audience and without a crowd."
Shetty's treatment at the hands of
25-year-old Goody, her mother and three other contestants in the Big Brother house has triggered a storm of protest in Britain and India.
Shetty (31), a Bollywood star in India, has been called a "dog". Housemates refuse to learn her name, have referred to her as "the Indian" and "Miss Poppadom", and model Danielle Lloyd said: "She should f*** off home. She can't even speak English."
Goody gained her celebrity status after appearing in the 2002 series. She quickly became notorious for her amazing feats of ignorance famously calling East Anglia, East Angular and asking whether it was "abroad". The Essex girl also revealed her belief that Mother Teresa was related to Albert Einstein.
Mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse, which paid around £3 million for a year's sponsorship of the series and another in the summer, pulled out of its sponsorship deal because it did not want to be associated with allegations of racist bullying.
A perfume store withdrew Goody's scent from its shelves while she was on the show, and a motor insurance company has dumped Lloyd as its model.
Channel 4 said it would donate profits from the telephone eviction vote to charity. In a full-page open letter to Goody in the Independent newspaper, the Indian Tourism Office outlined the ancient and modern delights India had to offer.
"Once your current commitments are over may we invite you to experience the healing nature of India," it said.
A poll in tomorrow's Guardian newspaper in Britain, meanwhile, suggests a majority of the British public believe Channel 4 should have intervened in the alleged racial abuse.
Sixty-three percent said Channel 4 had a responsibility to step in, with women feeling more strongly than men, the Guardian/Marketing Sciencespoll revealed.
But more than half of Britons (55 per cent) said they did not think the insults aimed towards the Bollywood actress were typical of modern Britain.
PA