Shilpa branded 'dog' on Big Brother

Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty was branded a dog on the Celebrity Big Brother UK show here, according to media reports.

The television watchdog here received 200 complaints from viewers that the star was a victim of racist bullying, the reports said.

Fans, upset by the racist behaviour, have voiced their concerns on Internet forums.

Shetty, 31, is one of nine celebrities whose activities are being filmed after they were locked in a house together on January 2.

A spokeswoman for Ofcom said, "Quite a lot of websites have been discussing the issue and urging people to get in contact with us."

Viewers believe that Shetty has been targeted by Jade Goody, a previous contestant on the non-celebrity version of the show, whose gaffe-prone persona turned her into a tabloid star, Danielle Lloyd, a former beauty queen, and Jo O'Meara, who was in short-lived pop group S Club 7.

Goody has said Shetty "makes my skin crawl", while Lloyd has called her "a dog".

O'Meara refused to eat a chicken roasted by Shetty because she claimed it was too spicy and undercooked, prompting Shetty to burst into tears.

Jackson Five star Jermaine Jackson consoled Shetty by quoting the words of his brother Michael's hit Man In The Mirror.

"They need to look in the mirror before they can make that change," he told her.

Show producers sought out Shetty and reportedly paid her more than the others -- up to 350,000 pounds ($675,000, 520,000 euros) -- to bring Bollywood glamour to proceedings and attract viewers with south Asian roots.

Originally done as a one-off tie-in series by Channel 4 in association with the BBC's Comic Relief charity telethon, Celebrity Big Brother is now a full spin-off of Big Brother UK, shown on Channel 4.

The series features B list and C list celebrity contestants living in the Big Brother House, trying to avoid being evicted by the public, to win a large cash prize to be donated to the winner's nominated charity at the end of the run.