GEORGE GALLOWAY’S escapades in the Celebrity Big Brother house raised £30,000 for his nominated Palestinian charity from public participation alone, as figures released yesterday showed that almost three million votes were cast during the programme’s run.

After his eviction on Wednesday Mr Galloway, the Respect MP, said his appearance would help to raise as much as £1.3 million for Interpal, the Palestinian humanitarian aid charity.

He said his £150,000 personal appearance fee would be used to hire two constituency workers at his Bethnal Green office. He also promised to pay back the percentage of his £61,000 parliamentary salary covering his stay in the house.

More than seven million viewers tuned in to see Chantelle Houghton, the “fake” celebrity, crowned winner. She is tipped to make £1 million this year from her success.

The series has already boosted the career of the rock band Ordinary Boys, who yesterday scored a top-ten single on the back of the participation of their singer, Samuel Preston.

Channel 4 and the show’s producers, Endemol, will be pleased with a much stonger audience reaction to this year’s Celebrity Big Brother. Last year’s series raised £262,000 for charity with one million votes cast during the 18-day run. This year public voting raised £480,000 for the 11 contestants’ nominated charities.

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