Frankie Cocozza was booted off the show today after the young hopeful broke competition rules. Frankie himself admitted that he ‘no longer deserved’ his place in the show.

His mentor, Gary Barlow, had choice words for him saying that he was disappointed that he had ‘thrown away’ his chance to reach the top.

Official statements from the shows producers apologised for his behaviour and confessed that Cocozza’s life had ‘gone out of control’.

As speculation mounted that Cocozza was given the boot for bragging about taking cocaine, his former mentor claimed he was ‘sorry to see him go’ but said he hoped Frankie would be able to somehow turn the experience into a positive.

In an official statement Barlow said: ‘Frankie has apologised publicly as well as personally to me and the producers for his actions that lead to him leaving the show.

‘I’m hugely disappointed that he’s thrown away an opportunity like this after working so hard to get here. I’m sorry to see him go as we’ve been through a lot together in such a short time.

‘I hope Frankie continues to look to me as a friend and supporter and works it all out, picks himself up and somehow tries to turn this into a positive.’

Barlow had been forced to constantly defend his act in recent weeks, with Frankie regularly snapped partying until the early hours on boozy nights out.

Gary admitted he would prefer it if Cocozza stayed at home but said he was ‘just being a teenager’ and emphasised the teen’s hard work during rehearsals, while on Saturday’s show the judge hit out at Louis Walsh for harshly criticising the young hopeful.

On Sunday Gary said he was pleased Frankie had been given another chance in the competition, as Cocozza vowed to ditch his partying in an attempt to prove himself.

An official announcement on what will now happen on Saturday’s show is expected tomorrow.

It is certainly not the first time in the X-factor competition that the centre of attention is Kitty Brucknell again. But this has probably topped any of the previous trouble.

The issue involves an argument with The Risk member Derry Mensah. According to reports, Kitty used racist language during the heated exchange of words. She was allegedly accused of being racially abusive towards The Risk star Derry at the contestants’ house in Hertfordshire.

The Sun reported that the paid began to exchange harsh words when Derry had asked Kitty to make room for her on the sofa in a rehearsal room in the X-factor compound where she refused to.

Shortly after Kitty refused to move a row ensued between the pair and as tensions escalated, Kitty reportedly called Derry an ‘evil black b******,’ prompting one of their fellow contestants to formally complain to X Factor staff about the incident.

A show insider revealed: ‘Kitty was resting on a sofa when Derry came in and demanded she move. He kept asking and pestering her to move.

‘Kitty was furious and shouting about needing to sleep. She got up and stormed out. On the way out, she shouted at him before slamming the door.’

An X Factor spokeswoman confirmed that the matter had been taken seriously and had been investigated, but insisted that it was no longer a problem.

She said: ‘There was an argument between two contestants which was looked into by production and the matter has been resolved.’
A source close to Kitty told The Sun: ‘She is absolutely not a racist and would never say such a thing.

‘She is devastated that anyone would believe it. Yes, there was a row and Kitty has apologised. She hopes they can move on.’

Big Brother has put Harry Blake, Jay Mckray, Faye Palmer and Aaron Allard-Morgan up for eviction after Jem quit the Channel 5 series.

Big Brother was forced to put all housemates who received nominations earlier this week up for eviction after Jem walked out of the Elstree compound just days after she was put up for eviction.

Her decision meant that Aaron was left as the only housemate facing eviction this week, forcing Big Brother to step in and put others – including Jem’s sister Faye – up for the public vote.

Jem had become unpopular in the house and on the outside after clashing with Aaron and confronting him in such a way that many accused her of ‘bullying’ her fellow housemate.

Earlier today, when Aaron learned of Jem’s intention to leave the house, he hinted that it was the wrong thing to do because so many viewers will already have spent money voting for her.

Jem will be shown leaving the Big Brother house on tomorrow night’s episode.

The winner of ‘The X Factor’ will no longer land a £1 million recording contract.

Leaked figures show the successful contestant would need to have a career spanning at least four albums in order to generate the huge sum, with their advance for their first record being just £150,000, rising to £237,000 for a second, then £315,000 and £400,000 for the third and fourth releases.

Previous winners Joe McElderry and Leon Jackson were dropped after releasing just one album, and last year’s victor Matt Cardle admitted his deal was worth less than £1 million.

He said: “I got an advance to keep me housed and fed while making my album. The million pound thing – that’s just for TV.”

It is believed that show chiefs stopped billing the top prize as a “£1 million recording contract” in 2009 and finalists are sworn to secrecy about the paperwork, which also sees a sliding scale of advances for those placed second and third.

A source told The Sun newspaper: “The bottom line is that unless you have hit album after hit album you will never get anywhere near the £1 million from selling records. But it’s still a hugely lucrative show.”

Acts who participate on the ‘X Factor’ live tour earn around £700 a day, depending on ticket sales and can boost their earnings with personal appearances.

A show spokesperson said: “‘The X Factor’ provides a huge platform for earning potential for both the winner and finalists.

“It is estimated finalists have collectively earned an estimated £60 million in the past few years alone including record deals, endorsements and public appearances.”

Of the £60 million, more than £20 million was earned by 2006 winner Leona Lewis.

Meanwhile, the show has been thrown into chaos after it emerged the £4,000-a-week luxury house where the finalists stay during the live shows could be closed down after failing fire safety and building regulations during a spot check.

A source told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “The place is a total tip, with all the fire escapes cluttered up and a lack of proper signs indicating proper exits.

“Unlike previous years, the house is designated a commercial property, not just residential – so these rules apply. Bosses went ballistic and pledged to get things sorted for the next visit.”

The house is due to be inspected again tomorrow.

Joey Essex has become synomynous with loud, fun-loving Essex men thanks to his role on The Only Way Is Essex, but he’s opened up to Now Magazine this week about his Mum’s tragic suicide, revealing a very different side to himself.

21 year-old Joey was just 10 years old when his mother took her own life, and told Now magazine, “I didn’t know where my mum was. I asked Dad, ‘Where’s Mummy gone?’ And he told me, ‘she’ll be back soon.’

“I didn’t know. I was just a kid. I thought she might have gone to a hotel. My Dad must’ve been thinking, ‘where’s my wife gone?”

When he was finally told about his Mum’s death, Joey admits he struggled to take in the news.

“I remember opening the door and Dad was standing there. He picked me up and said, “Mum’s gone.” It was the biggest shock of everyone’s life.

“But I didn’t really believe it, to be fair. I was upset and crying but after a while I though, Nah, she’ll come back.”

“For the first five years I never believed it. I’ve never known how she did it, but I knew she killed herself. My sister Frankie knows how, but I don’t want to.”
Joey admitted the reason he’s come forward now, is because of the rumours circulating about the incident.

“Some people think they know what happened but I was there that day and I’m the only one who knows how I coped. I want people to hear it from my mouth once and for all.”

In the meantime The Only Way Is Essex star admits that his Mum’s suicide has probably had an affect on the women he dates.

“Definitely,” he says. “Sam always used to call me her toyboy. She’s a very mature lady.”

“When she split up with me it was the anniversary of my mum’s death. I don’t think she knew but it really upset me.

Tonight was the first night where the contestants are put up to the public vote. Frankie Cocozza and Nu Vibe were in the bottom two with the two least amount of public votes.

Surprisingly Frankie came in the bottom two with the public votes because only a couple of weeks before he was considered as one of the favourites and strongest contestants.

The Risk, Janet Devlin and Craig Colton were among the first to be put through to next week’s show, which was predictable, however we were surprised when Johnny was the fourth name called, as we were hoping his ridiculous geisha girl performance would have at least left him in bottom two.

Gary and Tulisa both voted for their own respective acts, Kelly voted to send home Nu Vibe leaving Louis with the deciding vote. After much hesitation the act he sent home was Nu Vibe.

Gary’s comments during the live performance from Nu Vibe proved not to be their strongest performance after he said it was “no vibe”. Certainly the public seemed to have thought that way as well. All eyes are on Frankie now to hopefully pick up his game for next weeks show.

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane has admitted that he thinks the popular US cartoon should have ended by now.

The 37-year-old told The Hollywood Reporter that the show, which has just finished its 10th series, has been running for too long.

“Part of me thinks that Family Guy should have already ended. I think seven seasons is about right,” he said.

The surreal show follows the Griffin family, including Dad Peter, which MacFarlane provides the voice for.

“I talk to the fans and in a way I’m kind of secretly hoping for them to say we’re done with it,” he said.

“There are plenty of people who say the show is kind of over the hill, but still the vast majority go pale in the face when I mention the possibility.”

The writer, who is also responsible for other US cartoons including American Dad and The Cleveland Show, said he would prefer to end the show and release a film every few years.

There is a deal in place for a Family Guy movie, which MacFarlane is reported to be writing along with series co-producer Ricky Blitt.

He is also set to bring back a revamped version of 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon The Flintstones.

When he made the announcement in May, MacFarlane revealed Fred Flinstone had been “the very first cartoon character I drew at age two”.

Last Sunday saw Amelia Lily being one of the first girls to be booted off the show in the live show rounds. But the X Factor reject is set to make a bizarre return to the show as former mentor Kelly Rowland’s guest in the audience.

Kelly Rowland was forced into selecting one of her four girls to be axed in a surprising twist to the show last weekend.

The 16-year old from Middlesborough was understandably upset by the twist as it saw her having to leave behind her fellow contestants and her rumoured love interest Frankie.

Amelia would have been forgiven for thinking that her time in the spotlight was all but over, but Kelly kindly decided to invite the talented Amelia back as her guest in the audience.

Kelly explained on the X-Factor website that she had found it ‘extremely hard to say goodbye to Amelia’.

‘I have really gotten to know my girls and they are my babies,’ the US star explained. ‘I will stay in touch for sure. In fact, she is coming to this weekend’s show as my guest.’

Middlesbrough teen Amelia described her rejection as one of the hardest things she’s had to endure, claiming it felt like her heart had been ripped out.

‘It’s terrifying being stood on that stage in front of a nation watching you, not knowing whether you are going to be saved or you’re just going to go home,’ she explained after the show.

The 2011 X Factor live finals were off to a shaky start this weekend, losing one million viewers as BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing recovered from a ratings dip.

An average of 10.9million tuned in on Saturday to watch the likes of Frankie Cocozza, Craig Colton and Janet Devlin perform in the first live show of the year, ahead of Sunday’s results show which saw James Michael, Amelia Lily, 2 Shoes and Jonjo Kerr exit the competition.

The ratings for Saturday’s show peaked at 12.7million – a loss of almost one million viewers from the 13.5million who tuned into the same show last year.

The news might have come as a surprise to ITV bosses, who have so far enjoyed a ratings boost following the arrival of new judges Gary Barlow, Tulisa Contostavlos and Kelly Rowland.

X Factor boss Simon Cowell reportedly lost over £200k in voting revenue after forcing the judges to send one of their own acts home in a ‘big twist’ designed to pull in viewers, but the gamble failed to pay off.

Many were put off by the large number of adverts during the show, with more than half an hour of adverts during the 90 minute programme

One Twitter user wrote: ‘I’d like X Factor even more if there wasn’t adverts every 10 minutes’, while another joked: ‘New X Factor idea: don’t slow songs down into ballads, speed them up until they’re 10 seconds long. More room for adverts that way.’

Similar criticism was previously levelled at ITV’s Sunday night drama Downton Abbey, with the series opener featuring 23 minutes of adverts in a 90 minute show.

But while ITV bosses were working out what went wrong, BBC bosses were celebrating after their flagship Saturday night show Strictly Come Dancing pulled back viewers following a slump last week.

An average of 8.7million tuned in for Saturday’s live show, compared to 7.98million for the series opener and 7.5million for the second live show last Saturday.

At the time the BBC blamed last weekend’s heatwave for the disappointing figures, which saw 1million fewer viewers tune in compared to last year’s opening show.

Source Metro

Three of the main stars Glee Lea Michele, Chris Colfer and Cory Monteith are all set to leave the hit US TV show after the end of the next series when their characters graduate from McKinley High School.

Glee creator, Ryan Murphy, revealed both Lea, who plays Rachel Berry in the programme, and Chris (Kurt Hummel) thought it was a ‘good idea’ for their characters to leave the comedy-drama series because they ‘trust’ his writing.

Ryan told The Hollywood Reporter: ‘We made that decision and I involved Chris and Lea and they thought that was a good idea. They both trust the writing and trust me and felt that it would be great to have an open and closed experience for them to go out while they were on top.’

Ryan has not spoken to Cory (Finn) about his character, but said: ‘He knows he was a sophomore when the show started.’

Despite season three being Lea’s swansong, Ryan admitted Rachel will take centre stage because he is ‘much more interested’ in the character.

He added: ‘I’m much more interested in Lea’s character — not so much on her relationship with Finn, but more on what her dreams are beyond high school and how she plans on getting them. That’s what my senior year was about.’