Celebrity Big Brother personality Jade Goody, who is currently in India on a private visit, has announced she is to donate all her earnings from the recent show to benefit Indian children.
"All the money I've earned from Big Brother... everything that is connected to Big Brother will be donated to charity," she said at a New Delhi press conference on Tuesday. The 25-year-old former dental nurse has described the payment she received for her appearance on the show as "dirty money" because "it caused a lot of hurt".
Jade, who made headlines around the world six weeks ago with her run-in with fellow contestant Shilpa Shetty, also donated £25,000 to a charity for underprivileged children in the country. Bollywood actress Shilpa, who is now home in her Mumbai penthouse, has invited Jade to visit her. Her former Housemate's charity commitments mean the two will not be meeting during Jade's four-day trip, however. "But in the near future I'd like to meet Shilpa if the offer's still open," said Jade.
During her trip the British TV celebrity paid a visit to a Delhi slum and met up with some of the impoverished children living there. "I was an underprivileged child," she explained. "But nothing like the children that I've met today. They were inspirational." She added that the sight of children begging in a railway station put her own career problems into perspective.
Jade is not the only celeb visiting India. Hollywood starlet Scarlett Johansson turned down a glitzy night at the Oscars in favour of a charity trip, touring an Oxfam-funded school in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. The 22-year-old actress, who has apparently fallen in love with the country's food and culture during her ten-day visit, also stopped off in Sri Lanka where she witnessed the charity's reconstruction efforts in the wake of the 2004 tsunami.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
