Celebrity Big Brother 2007

29/01/2007

As glamorous Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty was crowned winner of Celebrity Big Brother 2007, everything fell nicely into place for the most controversial show in years.

The show's finale pulled in a massive 7.3 million viewers last night - more than the previous four finals attracted and only slightly fewer than watched the launch show almost a month ago.

But it's hard to think so many people would have tuned in without the massive storm of publicity which the infamous race row created.

If Jade Goody and her mouthy mum Jackiey Budden had never set foot inside the house, would the show have limped to a rather dull conclusion instead of the firework-led celebration with which Shilpa was hailed a hero?

Shilpa now stands to make more than £1 million as offers come flooding in, while Jade Goody is left with some grovelling to do after admitting she bullied the stunning actress.

The past three and a half weeks have flashed by in the real world, but for the housemates the days must have seemed like an eternity.

A bemused Jermaine Jackson was the first person to enter the house, followed by WAG Danielle Lloyd and lastly Dirk "The Face" Benedict, who pulled up in an A-Team van complete with signature cigar.

Rocker Donny Tourette made a splash on the first night, arriving drunk and then trying it on with Miss Whiplash Cleo Rocos and Danielle before diving into the hot tub fully-clothed.

Poor Danielle got an eyeful when 79-year-old director Ken Russell stripped and bent over in front of her, flashing his "meat and two veg".

In one of the biggest walk-outs Big Brother has ever known, three housemates decided they'd had enough and got out before things got nasty.

Donny was the first, legging it over the wall when he refused to wait on Jade and her family in the servant task.

The Goodys began to grate on Ken's nerves and he asked to leave after arguments with Jackiey and Jade, later calling them "guttersnipes".

Jackiey was the first to be evicted - she walked out with no shoes on and her back half-exposed, leaving a distraught Jade crying in Jermaine's comforting arms.

But the most diva-ish exit award undoubtedly goes to 70s pop star Leo Sayer, who beat his way out of a door when BB refused to give him any underwear on the day he was up for eviction.

The house was certainly quieter after Leo had gone and the housemates admitted they didn't really miss his antics.

Leo did provide a few laughs though, especially when he posed as a dumb waiter when Jade's grandparents came to dinner during the servant task.

Then journalist Carole Malone was evicted and, without her peace-keeping presence, Jade rounded on Shilpa, bitching about her to Jo and Danielle and calling her "Shilpa Poppadom".

The trio fell out with Shilpa over her "dodgy" chicken before Jade exploded in the Oxo cube incident, calling the actress "fake" and "a liar".

Jade's behaviour outraged the nation, who made more than 40,000 complaints to Channel 4.

In India effigies of C4 bosses were burned and Chancellor Gordon Brown stepped into the fray, condemning racism.

Jade was overwhelmingly evicted in a head-to-head with Shilpa, after apologising to the Bollywood beauty, but BB bosses protected the reality TV star by banning crowds from Elstree.

In her eviction interview, Jade apologised for her behaviour saying she was "disgusted" at herself but denied she was racist.

Life returned to normal in the house, but a bored Jo turned her attention to Dirk, constantly baiting him over his grumpiness.

House mum Cleo joined in and, donning a wig and red lippy as "Tiara", flirted with Dirk until he stopped talking to her.

Meanwhile, Jade's boyfriend Jack Tweed flourished out of her shadow, flirting with Danielle and throwing himself into the tasks, including wearing nothing more than a thong to make BB laugh.

There were some inspired tasks which saw the housemates licking their way through giant ice cubes and joining Jermaine and Jo in dodgy 70s gear and space suits in the battle of tribute bands.

Jo and Cleo got their come-uppance for being nasty to Jade and Dirk respectively by being booted out in a double eviction on Friday.

And after Jack and Danielle were kicked out last night, Ian was left holding the flag for Great Britain in the final four alongside Americans Jermaine and Dirk and Indian Shilpa.

The A-Team star came third and peace-keeper Jermaine was runner-up to the well-deserving winner Shilpa.

As contracts start to flood in for all the stars, only time will tell who will be the real winner of Celebrity Big Brother 2007.

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