Big Brother contestant Jade Goody has apologised to the Indian community and Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty during a visit to the Indian capital Delhi.
She was accused of racism towards Ms Shetty when they took part in the Channel Four show Celebrity Big Brother in January.
“I am sorry for the hurt and pain that my actions caused,” Ms Goody told a press conference in Delhi.
She is in India on what she describes as a private visit.
She issued her apology at a press conference in Delhi’s five star Le Meridien hotel, shown live on some of the private television channels.
Earlier in the day, Ms Goody visited a children’s charity that she works with and made a donation.
“After visiting these children, I realised how small my problems are. They are nothing compared to what these children go through,” she said.
Ms Goody denied that her visit to India and the donating of money to the charity amounted to a publicity stunt.
“This is not a publicity stunt. Nobody knew I was coming here. It was a private visit. If I wanted, I could have got the UK magazines to come here with me,” she said.
“The money I’m giving to the charity is because I want to help these underprivileged children,” she added.
Ms Goody, who is in India on a four-day visit, said on this occasion she is “busy with my charity work and will not be able to meet Shilpa [Shetty]“.
She arrived in Delhi on Monday and hours after her arrival, she was spotted having lunch at a restaurant at her hotel.
Since the news of Ms Goody’s arrival spread, her every move has attracted media attention with dozens of camera crews following her every step.
She is accompanied by three people, including two British Asians.
The way that Ms Goody and some of the other Big Brother contestants treated Ms Shetty resulted in more than 40,000 people complaining to the UK media regulator, Ofcom.
That led to Ms Goody denying being racist. But she apologised for referring to Ms Shetty as “Shilpa Poppadom” and other remarks.
The controversy made front-page news in India but reaction among ordinary Indians to the row was generally muted.
On leaving the Big Brother house, the 25-year-old said her behaviour was “nasty” adding: “I’m not racist, but I can see why it has had the impact it’s had.”
Shilpa Shetty was almost unheard of in the UK outside the British Asian community before she entered the Big Brother competition.
She soon became a household name. After she won the contest she was invited to visit the Houses of Parliament and to take tea with Prime Minister Tony Blair.
BBC
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