Britain's new prime minister, James Gordon Brown, who recently took over from Tony Blair "has always had a special interest in India and has addressed our country as pulsating and dynamic," said Shilpa Shetty's spokesperson Dale Bhagwagar, in an interview last week.

Bhagwagar was asked about the newly appointed British prime minister, in regard to the political stalwart's earlier comments and support to actress Shilpa Shetty.

During a diplomatic visit to India, Brown responded to questions concerning perceived racism and bullying against Shetty on the British reality TV show 'Celebrity Big Brother' saying, "There is a lot of support for Shilpa. It is pretty clear we are getting the message across. Britain is a nation of tolerance and fairness."

Condemning the incidents on the reality show, he later stressed, the racism debate showed that Britain wanted to be "defined by being a tolerant, fair and decent country." He was also said to have advised a vote for Shilpa at the height of the controversy.

"Shilpa has received respect, love and affection of a lifetime from Britons. It is something all Indians would proudly remember for years to come," said Bhagwagar.

"I am absolutely overwhelmed with the love and respect shown to me by the people in Britain. All I want to say is that I will never ever forget it and strive to come up to everyone's expectations," said Shilpa.

The winner

Shilpa was crowned the winner of the 'Celebrity Big Brother' (CBB) on 28 January, 2007 with 63% of the final vote, after an international racism controversy involving her and fellow contestants Jade Goody, Jo O'Meera and Danielle Lloyd.

The first Indian celebrity on the show, she was reportedly paid Rs. 3.5 crore for her participation. She had said to presenter Davina McCall, "I just want every Indian to be extremely proud that I'm in here".

During her time in the show, Shetty instructed fellow housemates Carole Malone and Ken Russell in meditation, flirted with Dirk Benedict and admitted to finding him "sexy", but tempers started to fray within a week as a clique formed in the Big Brother house disapproving of Shilpa's presence. Following a worldwide controversy that publicized her as a target of racist bullying within the house, Shetty won the contest after gaining a huge margin of the public vote and described the experience as "incredible and overwhelming".

Post Celebrity Big Brother

In February 2007, Shetty attended a reception at the House of Commons, by invitation of Member of Parliament Keith Vaz, to meet with then British prime minister Tony Blair. She was also invited to meet with Queen Elizabeth II at Marlborough House in London in March 2007.

The large number of commercial offers that Shilpa received in UK after winning Celebrity Big Brother themselves became reason for controversy with an increasing number of accusations about her riding the 'racism' wave to commercial gain.

On April 15, Richard Gere kissed her several times in a stage show to promote AIDS awareness, thus creating another controversy.

Her first release after the reality show got a great opening. The movie, 'Metro' became the first Bollywood movie to premiere at Leicester Square. Danielle Lloyd was also invited by the actress to attend the premiere.