By Subhash K Jha, IANS

After scorching the Indian screen, Shilpa Shetty is set to sizzle on Britain's reality show "Big Brother". She has reportedly been offered Rs.30 million for her participation.

The Indian version of "Big Brother" is currently running on Sony TV as "Bigg Boss" which is produced by Endemol, the company that produces "Big Brother" internationally.

Shilpa joins "Big Brother" from Jan 1 and spends the next 25 days on the show. The actress has been forbidden from talking about it, but a reliable source said that she has been paid the equivalent of a whopping Rs.30 million to be the only Bollywood participant on the show.

The source told IANS: "When Shilpa was approached she was completely taken by surprise. She had made no overtures to Endemol to let them know she was interested in their show at all. But 'Big Brother' made inquiries.

"They wanted their first Bollywood entry into the show and they needed someone with a smart, sexy look and attitude, someone who could converse fluently in English. Asians make up about 80 percent of viewers of the show."

Shilpa, who had other plans for Christmas and New Year, has quickly cancelled them to accommodate the month-long stint away from home.

Says a close friend of the actress: "Shilpa is basically a home bird and she's dreading this long stay with strangers. But she's also excited because it's an honour to be on 'Big Brother'. Not like its Indian counterpart 'Bigg Boss' where any and every wannabe was a contestant. 'Big Brother' has the biggest celebrities in the world."

Before signing the contract Shilpa found out how voyeuristic the show is expected to be. She need not worry: there will be no cameras in the bathroom and the celebrities on the show won't be required to act sleazy at all.