Unbelievable! Simon Cowell slams exit of X Factor favourite Ella Henderson

 
19 November 2012
The Weekender

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Simon Cowell today waded into the row over the elimination of X Factor contestant Ella Henderson, calling her exit “unbelievable”.

The 16-year-old singer was the frontrunner to win this year’s series but ended up in the bottom two with second favourite James Arthur.

But the controversy proved to be a welcome shot in the arm for the competition, with one million more viewers tuning in to last night’s results show than last week’s.

A peak audience of 11.7 million watched Ella voted off, while BBC 1 rival Strictly Come Dancing achieved 10.8 million as Richard Arnold was eliminated. Henderson and Arthur were given two votes each, taking their sing-off to deadlock which meant her fate was sealed as she had received the fewest public votes.

It prompted Cowell, who is working on X Factor USA, to tweet: “Ella! Gone??? Unbelievable. After the show, Henderson said: “It was horrible being in the bottom two. Absolutely awful. I was shocked that James was in the bottom two. But you never know what’s going to happen.”

Her mentor Tulisa Contostavlos said: “Words cannot express [how I am feeling]. Did you see and hear that last night? There’s nothing you could fault about that performance. It was one of the best she’s ever done.

“People did not vote. People thought she was safe. If you believe in an act you have to pick up the phone.” The judges’ shock was compounded by the survival of Rylan Clark and Christopher Maloney, who have never had the panel’s full backing. Last night the crowd booed when Maloney was confirmed for next week.

Fellow judge Louis Walsh added after the programme: “In my nine years on the show it is the most shocked I have ever been. I’m gobsmacked. These two people did not deserve to be in the bottom two. I thought Rylan was going home — we’re looking for stars.”

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