Shilpa plans Bollywood tour of Britain

Shilpa Shetty will headline a series of Bollywood "extravaganzas" across Britain this year in the wake of her Celebrity Big Brother success.

Fans of the 31-year-old actress, who won after facing a torrent of bullying in the house, have been promised a full-on "songs and sequins" UK tour culminating in two dates at Wembley Arena.

After taking a comfortable 63 per cent of the public vote, Shetty urged Britons to forgive the housemates accused of racist bullying against her, saying Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd and Jo O'Meara were "young, but not racist".

Shetty said last night: "I saw the footage for the first time - it was ghastly. But now I just want to move forward in life. Jade Goody is not a bad person. She is just young - people are fallible. She is a mother of two and I do not want to see her ruined because of this."

Shetty, who has already made millions from a 14-year Bollywood career, will have a formidable group of individuals - nicknamed "Team Shilpa" and assembled by her mother Sunanda - to ensure she gets maximum benefit from winning the show.

PR guru Max Clifford will be her UK publicist. Also on board are the law firm Carter-Ruck, event specialist Tasleem Begani and Farhath Hussain - dubbed the "King of Bollywood shows" - who told the Standard today: "We are looking at putting on a fantastic Bollywood show across the UK. We will also look at taking Shilpa to Canada and America."

He said he hoped non-Asian fans would "get the taste of a classic Bollywood show" but added: "For her fans who do not want to see a Bollywood show, we are looking at musicals like Bombay Dreams or Merchants of Bollywood for inspiration for a suitable theatrical vehicle. She's a very talented woman so there are no limits."

In addition to the talks of book deals, a possible cookery programme, yoga DVD and presenting new reality show Cricket Idol, Shetty is also rumoured to have been considered for a major part in Shantaram, a Hollywood film starring Johnny Depp, about a fugitive getting mixed up with the Mumbai mafia.

Sanjeev Bhaskar, star of The Kumars At No 42, said he would write her a part for a BBC comedy he was working on.

Runner-up Jermaine Jackson, 52, also revealed plans for a higher UK profile, saying: "Plans for a Jackson 5 musical show are at an early stage but we are hoping to open it in a London theatre as soon as possible."

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