Goody, who was accused of racism on British TV's Celebrity Big Brother for taunting fellow contestant Shetty, withdrew from India's Bigg Boss show last month after being diagnosed with cervical cancer.

She underwent an eight-hour operation yesterday at London's Royal Marsden hospital, a world-renowned specialist cancer centre.

"The operation went well. She's got the best people looking after her. She's had surgery, a radical hysterectomy and the operation lasted eight hours," said Goody's spokesman Max Clifford, yesterday.

The 27-year-old mother-of-two, whose reality TV career hit the rocks after the racism row last year, is expected to begin a nine-week course of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in the coming months.

A hysterectomy involves the removal of the womb, and usually lasts between one and two hours under general anaesthetic. Goody has two children, boys aged three and five.

Goody's appearance on the Indian show last month came 18 months after she was engulfed in the racism row, which escalated almost to a diplomatic incident and saw her vilified on the streets in India.

The broadcaster behind Bigg Boss said at the time that she had been "looking forward to reaching out to millions of Indians, to try and dispel various perceptions that exist in  people's minds about her."