Music mogul and X Factor judge Simon Cowell has hit back at accusations that the ITV1 show was "fixed" on Sunday and branded conspiracy fears as utter "nonsense."
Viewers had expected the public to decide the fate of the two acts left in the bottom two on Sunday night, but judges picked the acts they were sending to the final after a sing-off.
This meant that Mary Byrne was eliminated from the show as Cher Lloyd was put through to this weekend's final, but some fans believed the sudden change was brought in to ensure that the 17-year-old made it to the final instead of 51-year-old Mary.
But speaking to The Sun, the music mogul and judge explained: "We haven't done anything wrong. All the artists knew there was going to be a sing-off. Mary and Cher were told last Monday to prepare a song for a sing-off if necessary."
He continued: "I genuinely do not know the exact placings of the artists - who is top and who is bottom. I never know those details until the series is finished." And Simon said the sudden confusion is down to the having four finalists this year instead of the three acts in previous series. He continued: "There has always been a sing-off when there are five people left in the competition. This is a lot of nonsense about nothing."
Simon also claimed viewers usually enjoy changes to the format as it adds a surprise twist to the show, saying: "I'm always looking for ways to keep the show fresh. We knew we wanted four people in the final this year and I don't want to be accused of doing the same thing. "It's more exciting and gives more people a chance to win it. That decision was made long ago - five or six weeks ago. It adds to the mystery and audience love the surprise element. "We are doing our best to change the format. It's more exciting to have a sing off."
Meanwhile, Will.i.am, who performed with the Black Eyed Peas on the show last Sunday and claimed he was backing Cheryl's acts Cher Lloyd and Rebecca Ferguson, compared the former to coffee beans! Speaking to The Sun, the singer said: "To me, Cher is like running with apples and oranges. It's like apples and coffee beans. It ain't even the same thing. "You can make apple juice with apples but there is only one thing you can do with a coffee bean, make coffee. "Whoever got that first coffee bean and said, 'I want to make coffee out of it', is a visionary. That person had to walk in and say, 'You know what, I want to make a drink out of this'. Because when you see a coffee bean you just don't know what it is because it ain't a bean and it ain't a peanut. "So the person who turned it into coffee is a visionary and he's forgotten because you don't even know who it was. "But we always drink coffee now. Think about this sh*t. When you first saw a coffee bean, right, you were like, 'This ain't no bean and this ain't no peanut'." Eh?
He continued: "I genuinely do not know the exact placings of the artists - who is top and who is bottom. I never know those details until the series is finished." And Simon said the sudden confusion is down to the having four finalists this year instead of the three acts in previous series. He continued: "There has always been a sing-off when there are five people left in the competition. This is a lot of nonsense about nothing."
Simon also claimed viewers usually enjoy changes to the format as it adds a surprise twist to the show, saying: "I'm always looking for ways to keep the show fresh. We knew we wanted four people in the final this year and I don't want to be accused of doing the same thing. "It's more exciting and gives more people a chance to win it. That decision was made long ago - five or six weeks ago. It adds to the mystery and audience love the surprise element. "We are doing our best to change the format. It's more exciting to have a sing off."
Meanwhile, Will.i.am, who performed with the Black Eyed Peas on the show last Sunday and claimed he was backing Cheryl's acts Cher Lloyd and Rebecca Ferguson, compared the former to coffee beans! Speaking to The Sun, the singer said: "To me, Cher is like running with apples and oranges. It's like apples and coffee beans. It ain't even the same thing. "You can make apple juice with apples but there is only one thing you can do with a coffee bean, make coffee. "Whoever got that first coffee bean and said, 'I want to make coffee out of it', is a visionary. That person had to walk in and say, 'You know what, I want to make a drink out of this'. Because when you see a coffee bean you just don't know what it is because it ain't a bean and it ain't a peanut. "So the person who turned it into coffee is a visionary and he's forgotten because you don't even know who it was. "But we always drink coffee now. Think about this sh*t. When you first saw a coffee bean, right, you were like, 'This ain't no bean and this ain't no peanut'." Eh?
