Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty sought to put a racist row behind her after winning Britain's Celebrity Big Brothertelevision show.
The Indian star won 63 per cent of the public vote on Sunday night to storm to victory.
She beat 13 other contestants, including shamed television personality Jade Goody and several other housemates whose treatment of Shetty generated thousands of complaints, dominated headlines and even prompted a sponsor of the show to pull out.
But Shetty said she did not think those accused of tormenting her on the show meant to be racist.
"Things happen, and people make mistakes and we are all human beings and we are all fallible," said Shetty after emerging victorious from the Big Brotherhouse, where she had been cooped up for 26 days under 24-hour surveillance.
"I know one thing for sure, Jade really didn't mean to be racist," she said in an interview on Channel 4.
"I really don't want to leave England putting anyone in trouble . . . I just want to thank the whole of Great Britain for giving me this fantastic opportunity to make my country proud."