LONDON: Allegations that Channel 4 deliberately engineered the Shilpa Shetty-Jade Goody clashes on Celebrity Big Brother to boost ratings were reinforced on Thursday after its director of television Kevin Lygo acknowledged that the controversy had spiced up the show which was in danger of becoming the "most boring" in the BB series.

"This was in danger of being the most boring BB that we'd had in many years, maybe ever," he told Broadcast magazine, the weekly journal of Britain's broadcast industry.

He admitted that the channel wondered "what to do" before the race row "erupted into this extraordinary story."

Mr. Lygo defended the decision not to intervene despite widespread protests and fears of a diplomatic row with New Delhi.

"I think we made the right decisions all the time," he said.

"I don't think looking back at it we'd say: `If only we'd done that' or `if only we'd done this.'"

Channel 4's chief executive Andy Duncan, who has been criticised for letting the show go on while Ms. Shetty faced racist abuse, also defended the way the channel handled the row.

He said that while the channel regretted causing any offence, it would not apologise for airing the controversial footage of the Shetty-Goody confrontation.

The Channel 4 Board has ordered an inquiry into the handling of the controversy and a review of the Big Brother series, described as the "grotesque travesty" of the channel's public service remit. Britain's media regulator Ofcom is conducting a separate inquiry after receiving an unprecedented 40,000 complaints.

Ms. Goody was evicted from the show last week after a viewers' poll and more evictions are due on Friday. Ms. Shetty is among those whose names would be put to a vote for eviction.

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