X Factor reject act set to face limelight

One lucky X Factor reject act will be thrust back into the limelight tonight after winning a public vote that will raise money for wounded soldiers.

James Michael, Amelia Lily, Jonjo Kerr and Essex girl double act 2 Shoes all have the chance to replace Frankie Cocozza, who was kicked off the show on Tuesday.

The 18-year old wannabe was booted out of the X Factor after apparently boasting about using drugs, which programme bosses said broke the rules.

The teenager returned to his Brighton home on Wednesday after admitting his life had gone “out of control” during the series.

“I’d like to apologise to Gary, my fellow contestants and everyone who has voted for me, but, as of today, I will no longer be in The X Factor,” he said after being axed.

“My life during the show has gone out of control and my behaviour off stage has overstepped the rules of the competition.”

The four acts that were dropped in the first live show are now vying to re-enter the competition via a charity public vote.

Profits from the telephone vote – amounting to at least 22p per call – will go to Help For Heroes, the charity for wounded armed forces personnel, the show’s producers said.

The lines to vote for the singers were opened at 4pm on Thursday and will close an hour into tonight’s live show on ITV1, programme makers said.

The four acts have never faced a public vote before – instead their own mentors were forced to choose who they should sacrifice in a surprise twist at the start of the series.

The successful act that returns to the show tonight will perform either a song by Queen or Lady Gaga, but will have had a shorter time to rehearse than the other acts taking part. They could also face being immediately axed tomorrow night.

But 16-year old contestant Janet Devlin said she had mixed feelings about the possibility of an axed act returning.

“They had to fill the space somehow and I think that was the only feasible one,” she said.

“It’s a hard one to think about because in a sense we’ve been working for, I don’t know, six, five weeks – five more weeks than they have.

“In a sense, it’s weird them coming back, and us still have been working, but in another way it’s nice to have them back.

“I kind of envy them in the position that they’ve been out doing gigs, and that’s what I want to be doing, whereas we’ve been doing the live shows.”

Contestant Kitty Brucknell, 26, said executives should instead have brought back Johnny Robinson, who judges booted off the show last week.

She said: “I actually do think Johnny should have got the opportunity and I was really gutted about it but do understand the reasoning why.

“I think there’s a legal situation where because he got voted out or was in the bottom two by the viewing public and so legally he couldn’t. But I definitely think that would have been their first choice.”

Amelia Lily is not only tipped as the act most likely to be voted back in but she is also one of the favourites to win the whole series. Many leading bookies have made the pink-haired teenager fourth favourite to be crowned this year’s X Factor champion at 6-1.