How ironic that a woman who queried whether East Anglia was 'abroad' should spark an international incident.

Rioting in India, a storm of protest in Britain (40,000 viewer complaints) coverage in the Australian and South African press, claims of irresponsible broadcasting, statements by ministers, endless debate about 'real' racism v simple female jealousy - it all truly is a world crisis of tabloid proportions.

Possibly the end of civilization as we know it. Or, maybe not.

Maybe, all will end well. Perhaps we should be optimistic about this whole Celebrity Big Brother debacle. For (hopefully) the result of the furore could be the death of pointless celebrity.

If so, how delicious that it should be killed off by the very Big Brother hand that first delivered the unwelcome phenomenon into the world.

I admit, I'm not a fan. I've never quite seen the appeal of a programme that offers as the height of entertainment some nonentity baring his/her bottom or the possibility that two non entities might 'get it on' in front of the cameras. And I draw the line at being told the likes of Chantelle are stars. They're not.

The current storm is neither that surprising, nor, in truth, that interesting. Putting the intellectually challenged and inexplicably famous Jade Goody in a house with the likes of her screeching mother, Jo O'Meara (has-been singer of a disbanded pop group beloved of 7 year olds) and Danielle Lloyd, the sneaky and plain 'beauty queen' was hardly going to result in impassioned debates about Sartre or the films of Fellini.

While the past week has made for deeply unpleasant viewing I'm not shedding tears for any of the participants.

Shilpa Shetty, a moderately successful Bollywood actress, better known for her toned body than her acting skills, will come out of it with an international profile and lucrative offers of work.

Goody's 'career' will either (hopefully) die immediately on its lardy backside or peter out after a few unsuccessful rehabilitation attempts, probably involving brown people. The others will slink back into the obscurity whence they came.

And that is the greatest silver lining this storm-cloud of controversy can bring us; an end to people becoming famous for being famous.

But it will only happen if the media and 'nation' remain true to the outrage they expressed this week. Nothing will have been achieved if every tabloid and magazine now vies for 'Jade's side of the story.'

We already know Jade's side of the story. She told us in this poignant observation: "How can I be a racial, I've slept with loads of ethics."

Ah, yes, ethics, that well known moral minority.

Whether she is a "racial" or not, she simply should not be on our television screens or in our press, masquerading as a 'celebrity.' She isn't. She is a foul-mouthed woman with no discernible talent who along with others of her ilk has devalued the term.

'Exclusive' on a magazine cover used to mean the first interview in 20 years with a legend like Marlon Brando.
'World exclusive' now usually means two reality show rejects admitting that they have finally had sex after, well, days of 'fevered speculation' about their week long relationship.

An entertainment journalist once told me that reality show participants became big because real stars like Tom Cruise had become too remote. People couldn't 'relate' to them.

It made sense. Most women cannot ever hope to look like Angelina Jolie or wear Armani but they can look better than Jade, Colleen, Kerry and co in George from Asda and that can only feel good. But like a government elected on the back of a need for change, things can go sour.

Let's hope that the same people who made Goody a celebrity because she was 'one of us' will now decide that perhaps stars should not be 'us' but 'them'.

Let them be as crazy, crass and embarrassing as they like as long as they keep it behind the closed doors of their mansions where we can't see them not the living room of the Big Brother house where we can.

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Rehna Azim is a regular AIM contributor and editor of assetsworld.com