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Singer turned violent following show rejection
A Pink tribute act who X Factor viewers saw turn violent following her failure to get through the audition stage of the show on Saturday has claimed she was set up by producers.
Viewers tuning in on Saturday (August 18) saw Zoe Alexander punch a producer and label Gary Barlow and Tulisa 'c*nts' after they rejected her at the audition stage.
However, Zoe claims that X Factor producers found her on YouTube and invited her down to auditions and encouraged her to sing a Pink song - something she was then criticised for doing.
“When the judges rejected me I realised I had been manipulated by the X Factor for the previous six weeks,” she told The Daily Mirror in June. “They lured me in, coaxed me and even chose my song all with the intention of setting me up for a fall. I am really shocked at the lengths they will go to to set people up for humiliation.”
“They knew I had a bit of attitude on stage – which is nothing like I am in real life. When Gary Barlow told me I was just a Pink tribute act I was stunned – that’s exactly what the producers asked me to be. They mocked me and made fun out of what I do for a living.”
X Factor judge Tulisa Contostavlos has already stated her feelings on Alexander, with Entertainmentwise reported how she told a press conference how, "At the end of the day there is always going to be the odd person that throws this massive hissy fit and everyone goes 'Oh my God' and there are thousands of people over the years who have auditioned and just because this one person can't control their temper, throws a bit of a fit, I don't think it's a reason for everyone to go 'Oh my God, you've got to think about their emotions'.
Check out Zoe's explosive X Factor audition below:
The X Factor - where did it all go wrong?
Pop Idol: In 2001, light entertainment was changed forever (well, it certainly seems like forever) when Pop Idol appeared on UK screens. Pulling sizable ratings of up to 10million viewers per episode, the show lastest two series before puffing out of steam when Michelle McManus was crowned champ.
X Factor is born: Taking the Pop Idol idea and giving it a radical overhaul (well, letting old people get involved), Simon Cowell premiered X Factor on ITV in 2004. Cowell was joined by jolly Louis Walsh and mad old bat Sharon Osborne. The show included a blind entrant and the winner, Steve Brookstein, disappeared after one hit single. No one gave it second though, it was just a bit of telly after all.
X Factor series two: Everything changed on the second series of X Factor. The acts were slicker and the judging process harsher - with shock eliminations making front page news, such as series favourite Maria Lawson's elimination.
A proper popstar winner: Sure, it's all over for Shayne Ward now, but for a time, he was pop's golden boy, with his lovely beard and tribal tattoos. The winner of series two showed that X Factor had more to offer than a one hit wonder. Ward was recently furious at being left off a promotional video for the 2012 series of X Factor.
Leona Lewis: The third series of X Factor had no sense of tension whatsoever. Leona Lewis was the obviously winner from day one, and not even the gelled quiff of closest rival Ray Quinn could shake the shy Hackney lass's claim on the series. Trumping Shayne Ward, Leona went on to score international success with two albums and hit single 'Bleeding Love'.
The runners up get famous too: Skipping over the Leon Jackson year (definitely for the best), in 2008 finalists Alexandra Burke and JLS both scored huge success after placing first and second, the first time a runner up had carved out a career after not winning the show. Poor old Eoghan Quigg (who placed third) didn't fare quite so well...
The year everyone got famous (apart from the winner): Rebecca Ferguson! Cher Lloyd! One Direction! It's amazing to think that Matt Cardle was the man who won X Factor in 2010, considering the three less popular acts in the competition are now multi-million selling international artists. This was the year when winning the show suddenly didn't seem like such a victory after all.
The PR overdrive: Even by X Factor standards - 2012 has been a non-stop onslaught of endless tabloid rumours on who is, and who isn't going to appear on the show. Kelly Rowland? Dannii Minogue? Geri Halliwell? Simon Cowell? Every day, a new story about the show has been pushed in our faces, leading to fatigue long before the show has even begun. Will X Factor PR itself out of existence?
Don't fret - the bubble will burst: All this has happened before and all this will happen again. From 1964 - 1978, TV schedules were dominated by Opportunity Knocks, the predecessor to the likes of X Factor and American Idol. Hugely successful, the show ran for 14 years, but nothing lasts forever, and with dwindling interest in the artists the show produces, surely it is only a matter of time...
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More about: X Factor
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