BB scraps vote after Shilpa blunder

The show's producers Endemol were forced to scrap all votes cast since last night for Friday's eviction after appearing to favour race row contestant Shilpa Shetty.

The Bollywood star was one of five contestants in line for the boot. Phone numbers to evict her four rivals were shown in graphics on screen but for Shilpa the number displayed was to save her instead.

A show spokesman said it was a "genuine mistake" but fans who contacted London Lite suspected it was an attempt to manipulate the vote to keep Shilpa who has suffered at the hands of other housemates.

Endemol said today: "We will reimburse anyone who wants their money back and all profits will go to charity." The lines will reopen after tonight's show. The four other contestants up for eviction are Dirk Benedict, Jo O'Meara, Ian Watkins and Cleo Rocos.

The latest row comes in the wake of last week's furore over C4's handling of allegations of racism.

But channel bosses remain defiant. The chief executive, Andy Duncan, and the director of television, Kevin Lygo, said no one's job would be at risk despite the record number of complaints - 43,700 - received by media watchdog Ofcom.

Mr Lygo also courted controversy when he admitted the race row livened up "the most boring BB".

Bosses of the show appeared to notice their error over the voting at midnight, when a message appeared on the website saying: "There was a technical error with the voting package. We would like to make clear that this week it's a vote to evict."

One viewer said: "When you looked at the screen there was no way that you could vote Shilpa out. It made you wonder whether Channel 4 had done it on purpose to try and save her."