Animal activists support Shilpa Shetty

Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty, who has managed to bag the honour of one of the 'hottest' contestants of UK television show Celebrity Big Brother, is receiving support from unexpected quarters.

Animal activists in Britain are encouraging voters to back Shilpa to become the next winner of show. Shilpa, who is participating in the reality TV circus, urged people to boycott the circus.

The 31-year-old posed for a campaign by the rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in which she crouched in a cage, dressed in a tiger-striped body suit, with the tagline "Beaten, Lonely and Abused - Boycott the Circus".

A PETA spokesman said: "When Shilpa did her advertisement against circuses for PETA, she had no idea that she would eventually be living in the midst of one. We encourage everyone to vote for Shilpa in tomorrow night's show."

Other contestants to have lent their faces to PETA campaign ads include Dennis Rodman, Traci Bingham and Jodie Marsh.