The Hindu : Front Page : Green signal for Jade Goody

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jan 27, 2007
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Green signal for Jade Goody

Hasan Suroor

Indian High Commission in London grants her a six-month tourist visa

London: The decks were cleared on Friday for the controversial British reality TV star Jade Goody's "passage" to India after the Indian High Commission here granted her a six-month tourist visa.

Ms. Goody, who tormented Shilpa Shetty on the Celebrity Big Brother show, had been extended an "open" invitation to visit India by the India Tourism Office to clear her misconceptions about the country. The office took out a full-page advertisement in British newspapers last week "welcoming" her to India to "experience" its "healing nature" and to "cleanse your stresses away."

At the time, many thought that the "invitation" was meant as a joke but she appeared to have taken it seriously and the first thing she did after being evicted from the programme last week was to apply for an Indian visa.

There was speculation that Ms. Goody might be parachuted into the Indian version of Big Brother — Big Boss — to shore up its flagging viewership just as Ms. Shetty was "imported" to spice up the series here.

Although Ms. Goody claims to have visited India earlier, she apparently still believes that Bollywood stars such as Shilpa Shetty live in "slums" and that "pappodum" could be a surname.

Ms. Goody, whose career is in free fall after her racist bullying of Ms. Shetty, was evicted from the programme last week with 82 per cent of the viewers voting against her.

The show ends this Sunday with Ms. Shetty tipped to emerge as winner.

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