What happened to Shilpa Shetty 19 years after racist Big Brother Jade Goody row
Shilpa Shetty has continued to find success in the 19 years since her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother.
Shetty rose to fame building up a successful career in Hindi language Bollywood films in the 1990s, including alongside Bollywood superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol.
In 2007 she became known to a UK audience when she was the first Indian celebrity selected for the series Celebrity Big Brother, alongside housemates Jade Goody, Jo O’Meara, and Danielle Lloyd.
Tensions in the house came to a head in an argument, apparently over stock cubes, which saw Goody directing a tirade of abuse towards Shetty, while housemates O’Meara and Lloyd looked while giggling.
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The argument involved several remarks about Shetty's accent and cooking and saw a massive backlash both in the UK and India, seeing what was at the time a record number of complaints to UK broadcast watchdog Ofcom.
During the show there were also a number of racist remarks about Shetty, including derogatory comments directed at her nationality.
The fallout of the show saw Goody voted out by the public, while Shetty would go on to win the series.
Speaking after the show, Shetty said: "Things happen and people make mistakes and we're all human beings and we're all valuable, and I know one thing for sure, Jade really didn't mean to be racist, I can say that for sure.
"She is a little aggressive, she may be hot tempered, short tempered, whatever you call it, but she's not a racist."
In the years since her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother Shetty has gone to become a judge and host on several Hindi-language reality shows and dance shows.
These have included the show Nach Baliye, which follows a similar format to Strictly Come Dancing, as well as hosting reality show Soney Ka Dil, which tells the story of ordinary people who try to help others.
Shetty would also go on to become involved in charitable projects, including a TV show with the BBC World Service Trust aiming to raise awareness for people living with HIV in India, something Shetty said was close to her as she had previously portrayed someone living with HIV in a movie.
The actor has also become involved in animal rights activism, including featuring in a campaign for PETA against the use of animals in circuses.
She has been married to British-Indian businessman Raj Kundra since 2009, and they have two children together.
On top of her TV appearances, Shetty is also a co-owner of Bastion, a restaurant and hospitality group which has premises in Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru, and in 2025 was reported to be worth ₹127 crore, around £9.7 million.
Shetty has also racked up 32.9 million followers on Instagram, where she regularly promotes health and wellness, describing herself in her bio as a 'Wellness Influencer'.
Following the scandal on Celebrity Big Brother, O'Meara has expressed her regret over her behaviour on the show.
Speaking to the Independent, O'Meara said: “I lost everything, the house included. If I could go back and change it, I would, in a heartbeat. But I can’t. So all I can do now is apologise to the people I hurt, because that was never my intention. I never meant to do that, and I’m genuinely sorry. I’ve learned a lot, I’ve grown up a lot. I’ve changed.”
In 2017 Danielle Lloyd would take to Twitter denying that she was racist on the show, writing: "Can I just say I never said one racist thing in that house I wasn't nice but I wasn't racist at all! And I've moved on from this now."
Lloyd had also previously claimed that when she said that Shetty should 'go home' she had meant in the sense that she should leave the house.
In her exit interview after being evicted from the show, Goody insisted that her remarks 'wasn't actually meant in a racist form at all.'
Goody died of cervical cancer in 2009.
Topics: TV, Celebrity Big Brother, Celebrity
Kit Roberts