22/01/2007

Channel 4 board under fire

The Channel 4 board is to convene today in its first meeting since the recent racism furore over Celebrity Big Brother.

Channel 4 has faced calls to have the show axed and has been accused of doing insufficient to prevent the clashes between housemates.

The Commission for Equality and Human Rights is pressurising the Channel 4 board to issue an apology over the handling of the situation.

Channel 4 has denied allegations that evicted contestant Jade Goody, who was rushed from the house to a studio, was coached on what to say following her eviction.

Ms Goody in an interview soon after the eviction admitted that Shilpa Shetty had been the victim of "bullying and racism" and that she was both "shocked and disgusted" by her own behaviour.

Her perfume has been withdrawn from sale and it is reported that her show on the LivingTV channel has been dropped.

Telecommunications watchdog Ofcom has received some 40,000 complaints about the behaviour of some of the contestants' on the show and following Ms Goody's eviction viewer numbers are reported to have slumped from a high of 8.8 million to just over 3.1 million.

Ms Shetty is the bookies odds on favourite to win the show, which is scheduled to end in ten days.

(SP/EF)

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