X Factor Accused Of 'Exploiting' Contestant Ceri Rees

The X Factor has been accused of exploiting a 54-year-old Welsh contestant who struggled through her audition on the programme.

Ceri Rees featured during a seven-minute section of Sunday's (September 18) edition of The X Factor, which saw her attempt to perform ' I Dreamed A Dream' from the musical Les Miserables and 'I Will Always Love You'.

Vocal coach Amanda Roberts who worked with Rees claimed she had urged producers not to show her audition.
"The show just wants someone to ridicule. The producers and judges should hang their heads in shame - they are exploiting a vulnerable woman,” she told The Sun.

"When they approached her to go back I rang the producers and told them it wouldn't be good for her. We had a slanging match for half an hour - they spoke to me like mud."

Rees failed to impress the judges with her two performances.

Mental health charities have also rallied to defend Rees, who had audition four times before.

A spokeswoman for The X Factor said: "The X Factor is open to everybody to apply and we regularly welcome back contestants who want to audition again.

"Ceri has been taking singing lessons since she last appeared on the show and she wanted to have her vocals judged by a new panel as she hadn't been successful with the previous line-up.

She added: “Her audition was the same length as the other key stories we have featured in the series and Ceri has assured the team today that she is happy she auditioned for the show."

It is not the first time The X Factor has been accused of exploiting a contestant.