Race Row in House

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Traci centre of race row in house

Traci unwittingly sparked a race row in the house this morning, offending many of her housemates in the process.

The argument was rooted in comments made by Faria, who had theorised that the British public would not allow a non-white person to win the show. "Do you think they'll ever let a black or Asian girl or guy win this thing?" she asked rhetorically in a conversation with Traci and Dennis. "Are you out of your tree? Think about it, darling. Never! Remember that."

She added: "This country? Oh please! Don't even get me going on that. They would never, they'd be up in ****ing arms."

Traci then began to report details of the conversation to the rest of the group on the basis of determining whether such an assertion was true. Inadvertently, however, the housemates appeared to get the impression that Traci was accusing them of not allowing a non-white person to win.

"For me, I thought it was going to be fair and square and even and that," she said. "I thought I did have a chance to win. But according to Faria and Dennis, because I'm female and I'm American and my skin is brown, I don't stand a chance."

Having spotted the argument, Faria joined the group and began to clarify exactly what had been said - but many of the housemates remained offended.

"The idea that people who watch this show are bigots is proposterous," said George, pacing around the kitchen. "Most of the people who've won have been from minorities of one kind or another."

"The idea of anybody putting that into their vote in the house is an insult," added Rula.

After half an hour of talking in circles, it was eventually determined that Dennis, who was snoozing in the living area, had been the chief instigator in the row.

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Dennis was left bemused this afternoon after the group mistakenly believed him to have made anti-British comments.

Even though Faria had made the initial remarks, the group was left with the impression that Dennis had been the culprit and called on him to explain himself.

Instead he went to the bedroom to confront Traci and Faria for framing him. "You're trying to point the finger at me," he told them angrily.

"But you did say that with me, Dennis," said Faria, adding that the situation had "totally been blown apart".

Dennis also took Traci to task for inaccurately reporting the conversation to the others, accusing her of "creating a TV episode".

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http://bbimages.digitalspy.co.uk/cbb4/library/160x120_cbb4_faria01.jpgFaria admitted that her comments had sparked today's household row over race, finally setting the record straight.

As the group sat down for lunch, Dennis emerged from the bedroom and was called upon to explain the remarks everyone believed that he had made.

Instead Faria jumped in and accepted responsibility for the situation. "Traci had misunderstood and said that Dennis had said something when it was actually I who had said it," she began. "I said, and I didn't refer to anybody here, that I didn't think it was possible for a black or an Asian to win Big Brother. But I didn't mention the 'r' word, I meant it just as that. Then Dennis agreed and I said 'why are you here?' and he said "to add colour'. I assumed he was talking about skin colour and he wasn't, he was talking about adding spice and entertainment."

She added: "So it was me, I said that, and it wasn't him. Perhaps Traci misunderstood. It had nothing to do with anybody inside who had said anything. It was me, I had said it. That's where the land lies."

Starting to cry, she continued: "I do feel a little hurt that I've been nominated but I'm sorry but I just do. I'm sorry if I get upset but I've tried to be who I am. I apologise to the nation, to everybody here for offending. Obviously this will cause a lot of aggravation but I've got to take it on the chin."

Traci also offered up an apology for her part in the debacle, announcing: "I have to apologise for bringing it into the house in that way. I guess it looked like Dennis was the big bad guy and he's not."

With all the cards finally on the table, the group set about analysing exactly why the siuation had been blown up into a big issue. "To me the moral of the story is that we need to be more honest and open with each other," said George, "instead of half-hearing conversations and carrying them elsewhere."

He added: "If there was any racism in the house, believe me, I would have picked up on it by now."