Jermaine: I did not call Jade 'white trash'

He insisted the comment was made to him by former A-Team actor Dirk Benedict during a conversation they shared in the garden, and that he relayed it to Shilpa Shetty.

The Channel 4 show was won by Bollywood star Shetty, who was the target of controversial comments from some of her fellow contestants that led to a world-wide furore.

Speaking at the launch of the Nobull campaign in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, former Jackson Five star Jermaine said he wanted to settle the controversy surrounding the white trash comment. He said: "Let's clear that up. I want everybody to hear this.

"I did not call Jade Goody white trash. The white trash statement came from Dirk Benedict. As I was sitting out in the garden with Dirk, he said it and I went back to Shilpa to let her know what was being said about them.

"I really wanted to clear that up because I have not been raised to call anybody any name that is belittling to them. That's not me, that's not my family. We don't do that. I was repeating something to Shilpa to let her know."

He also said he did not believe the actions of Goody, former S Club 7 singer Jo O'Meara and model Danielle Lloyd towards Shilpa were not racially-motivated. Instead he said he thought they were bullies.

He said: "If Jade was racist, or Jo or Danielle, they would never have entered the house. They would never have ate at the same table as me or Shilpa. They would never have sat on the same toilet seat as me or Shilpa or slept in the same room. That's real racism. That's racism at its best. This was bullying and that's one of the reasons why we are here."

Jermaine later addressed a sports hall filled with children and their parents, calling on them to show respect to others. The Nobull campaign was devised by north Devon-based martial arts expert Matt Fiddes, himself a school bully target.

The programme involves Jackson talking to students at primary schools and Matt Fiddes martial arts academies.