After a very rough couple of weeks, the A-list Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty emerged triumphant from the specially designed Big Brother house, after spending 26 days under 24 hour video surveillance. To that, we can easily add the scandal that threatened to put the celebrity version of the reality show in danger of being taken off the air, after more than 40,000 complaints were filed to Britain's biggest watchdog, Ofcom.

Jade Goody, a relatively known television star in the UK, along with other two housemates, constantly bullied and harassed Shilpa, mocking her for everything from her accent, to her cooking and the color of her skin. At one point, they even laughed at her for bleaching her facial hair because, they said, she 'wanted to be white'. All this time, the actress remained calm and refused to fight back the same way, which was probably why she won the show with a majority of 63 percent of the viewers' votes.

As she emerged from the house, the Indian actress learned for the first time that her being bullied had become a subject of international news. However, she still tried to play down the whole racist row, by coming to Goody's defense. 'Things happen and people make mistakes and we're all human beings. Jade didn't mean to be racist, I know that for sure. She's hot-tempered, short-tempered or whatever, but I just want to put things to rest and say she isn't a racist. I don't want to sound cliched, but it's really been quite a rollercoaster, the highs and the lows, and each one has taught me so much. I just want to thank all of Great Britain for giving me this fantastic opportunity to make my country proud.', Shetty said.

Many PR experts predict that winning 'Big Brother' will be Shetty's launch platform in Europe and, why not, Hollywood. At 31, the actress is very popular in India (having produced over 40 movies and starred in double as much) but her fame has been restricted solely to Bollywood until now. Plus, she is beginning to lose her pin-up girl status, due to the fact that other younger girls emerge every single day.

A major cosmetics company is already in talks with her to become their next face, she is said to prepare for recording a couple of her most famous tracks from her movies, which will be then released worldwide and she already has scheduled tens of interviews. All in all, Shilpa stands a very good chance of making over £1 million this year. Aside from that, the actress says nothing much will change: she will still continue to represent her country and be herself.