Karthik’s race row
EVICTED Karthik Nagesan says he stood up to Paul Danan to stop others from racially bullying him.
The Apprentice star kicked off after Paul, inset below, repeatedly called him Qatar.
Karthik explained: “Because I spoke about it in such a brutal fashion with Paul, everybody else got the message. So nobody ventured in that area. “Nothing happened in that direction at all after that.”
Karthik went all-out from the start to help his fellow housemates avoid being offensive.
He added: “On my first day I wore a T-shirt that said ‘The Big K’. I believe I have a nice sounding ethnic name. But for people for whom it’s difficult, the T-shirt says what you can call me.
“But in spite of that I felt mocked and ridiculed.
“And then there was a task where I had to get Paul drinks, so his repeatedly saying my name wrong, plus the way he ordered me around, felt bad… that’s why I responded the way I did.”
Karthik had a string of clashes with former Hollyoaks hunk Paul. He added: “I’m sure Paul is a very nice person outside. But in there it came across like he was playing up to the situation.
“He came up to me and said, ‘Oh we don’t want the Americans to win’, and I don’t agree with that. That is a divide and rule policy and that has broken countries before.”
Thoughtful Karthik was determined not to turn nasty, adding: “There was a lot of negativity in the house and in the first week I let some of it into me. “But after the nomination and the harsh things said about me I decided kindness was the way forward.
“If someone hurts me I’m going to show them love. An eye for an eye makes the world blind.”