Rachel Hylton- X factor 2008

X Factor reject Rachel Hylton surprised party goers this week by taking to the stage and performing a duet with former Big Brother housemate, Stuart Pilkington.

The pair sang The X Factor finalists’ No 1 hit Hero at the AirAsia after-party at the Paramount Club.

A source told the Daily Mirror: "It was hilarious. A big circle formed as they debated which was Rachel’s last line in the song.

"Rachel was adamant to prove her point so started singing. Stu joined in and started instructing her. It was like a gospel choir, with everyone getting off the dancefloor and clapping them."

Rachel Hylton- X factor 2008

Former X Factor contestant Rachel Hylton says the other singers on the show often excluded her and made her feel isolated.

"Sometimes I just went off on my own because I was made to feel left out. You know, I always tried to be gracious and say nice things about everybody," she told ITV1’s This Morning.

"But what I wanted to say was, ‘What have I done wrong? Why are you lot treating me like this?’

"I could’ve used some support when I was at my lowest points in the show. They all support each other. They were all close to each other – but nobody had any time for me."

She added: "The bottom line is, I always got left out and I always got made to feel like an outsider."

X Factor choreographer, Brian Friedman has said that he is glad Rachel Hylton got the boot from the show last Saturday night.

MSN quote Friedman as saying:

"It was time for her to be eliminated. I definitely know that she was the bottom of the pack.

"Everyone kept giving her this pass, saying ‘we haven’t seen the best of you’. But she had been in the bottom too many times the public weren’t warming to her. If it had gone to deadlock she would still have gone."

After facing plenty of criticism for his stage shows and choreography from the judges so far, Brian has revealed that he just wants the chance to defend himself to the public.

"Dermot said ‘I wish I could give you the mike’ and I don’t have a voice on the show.

"If they’re going to criticise me I should have a voice otherwise they shouldn’t say anything. I would love to have a fifth chair next series, I don’t have to mentor, I just want a voice," he said.

It was an emotional Rachel Hylton who showed up for her X Factor press conference yesterday and the mother of five says that she blames the media for her exit from the show.

Rachel told reporters: "I really think it didn’t matter about my performance. Bottom line is I feel I’ve been judged on my past the whole way through this competition. I wasn’t given a chance."

Rachel then burst into tears and almost couldn’t continue with the conference as she talked about her past.

She said: "I’ve been given a lot of negative press coverage. I just feel it was really unfair. I know I’ve taken drugs, I know I’ve committed crimes and I am sorry.

"I didn’t mean to do them things. I’ve lost three kids and I’m nearly 27," she added, sobbing.

"I’m sorry to cry, but I’ve got to live with that every single day of my life. My oldest son is 13 and I don’t even know what his favourite colour is, that’s embarassing. It’s not something I’m proud of."

As I watched Rachel Hylton perform Rule The World on X Factor tonight, the camera kept cutting across to shots of Dannii Minogue weeping.

Before Rachel came on stage, Dannii couldn’t introduce her because she was so upset and I’m not really sure why?

Louis Walsh did have a bit of a go at her about stealing JLS’ song, but really she should be used to him being a sniping little moan. She had first pick of songs, she chose the best song for her act, she did what she is being paid to do.

Is she out for the sympathy vote for her acts? Is she really that sensitive? I don’t really like Dannii at the best of times and I find it hard to have sympathy for her tonight. Am I being too hard? Leave your comments below!

This weekend has seen the departure of two of the biggest characters in reality TV right now; Rachel Hylton and John Sargeant.

Rachel was pushed by the judges who – finally – voted her off while John voluntarily jumped, but the ironic thing is, while we the voting public were all studiously voting to keep the very likeable John in Strictly, many of us were equally studiously avoiding voting for the noxious Rachel. And while she was saved several times by the judges, poor John took the judges opinion into account over the public’s and left.

Fortunately, Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole finally recognised that given that Rachel had been in the bottom two no less than three times, it was probably a fair indicator of the fact that she isn’t liked by the public. They also wisely acknowledged that although Rachel can undoubtedly sing, her talent wasn’t enough to carry her through what is as much a popularity contest as one about talent, and that’s where Strictly came unglued over John.

Those of us who sit at home on a Saturday night have most likely never had anything to do with the world of professional performing; we just know what we like and what we don’t. That old joke, ‘I know everything about art, I just don’t know what I like’ seems to apply to the judges of these shows though and they are only looking at the technical abilities of the person whereas we either like a person or we don’t.

We don’t really care if they can pas de duex or hit top C or whatever… if we like them, they stay, if we don’t, they go. In theory…

But that all went a bit awry with John and it took way too long to sink in over Rachel.

I personally think that the judges shouldn’t be allowed to vote in any of these shows, or at least if they do, it shouldn’t actually affect whether the contestants stay or go. Only the public vote should do that because unfortunately, the judges do tend to forget that these shows are primarily entertainment, not pro-singing and dancing workshops.

John left because he feared he could win which, he thought and so did the judges, would make a mockery of the show. I think they have it the wrong way round! I don’t care about who has the fanciest footwork – I watch because I like the people in the show.

Likewise with X Factor, Leon Jackson was the winner last year but the fact is, Rhydian was in a league way above Leon in terms of singing ability, but he came second. Why? Because we liked Leon more. Yes, most people liked Rhydian too but on technical ability, he should have won.

Similarly, Ray Quinn only missed out on winning the X Factor because Leona Lewis is both a world class singer and a very pleasant and likeable girl. If he’d been up against Rachel Hylton in the final, he’d have won hands down… because he’s likeable and she isn’t.

So I think the judges on reality TV shows need to start taking a bit more notice of us, the viewing public, and act accordingly. We don’t only care about how well a person can sing or dance, we care about the person just as much. Unlike the judges, we don’t have an ulterior eye on a recording contract or a live tour, we just know who we like and why, and at the end of the day, we are the ones who keep these shows on air by our phone voting.

So do you think the judges should be allowed to make the final decisions or should our votes be the only deciding factor in who stays and who goes on reality TV shows? Let us know.

After being in the bottom two X Factor acts for the thrid time, Rachel Hylton got voted off the show tonight.

Once again Rachel found herself at the bottom tonight, this time joined by 4 piece boyband, JLS.

It seemed a cert that Rachel would go until JLS underperformed pretty badly and Rachel sang her heart out. I agree with Cheryl when she said it was Rachel’s best performance to date.

Going on the final two performances alone, Rachel probably should have stayed, yet having been in the bottom two three times the judges couldn’t really throw her yet another lifeline.

So its goodbye to one of the most unpredictable X Factor contestants ever and make sure to check back on Unreality TV this Monday for our exclusive interview with Rachel.

This week the lucky X Factor contestants have had the chance to get some tips and pointers from two of the talented lads from Take That.

Mark Owen and Gary Barlow met with each of the remaining acts, listened to their songs for this week and offered tips and pointers on how they could improve their performances.

Rachel Hylton

Gary Barlow was really blown away with Rachel at the master class, saying she was one of the ones that impressed him the most. Mark Owen commented that in previous weeks Rachel had come out looking like she had something to prove, and he advised her that this week she should come out and perform like she’s already won and to enjoy it, because she’s come so far to get where she is.

Ruth Lorenzo

Ruth was told by Gary and Mark that she needed to keep fit to have the lung capacity to perform – so she’s taken up running this week! And Ruth admitted to the guys that when she was 9 she wrote to them asking her to sing at her birthday party but never got a response, so as a belated birthday gift they sang to her in Spanish.

Diana Vickers

Gary Barlow blew Diana away with his praise of her performance. He even assured her that if Simon Cowell didn’t sign her after the show then he would!

Alexandra Burke

Alex has been having more throat problems this week and at the Take That master class Gary Barlow gave her some strict advise, and told her to keep talking to a minimum in order to rest her voice in between shows, not such an easy thing for chatter box Alex!

Eoghan Quigg

At the Take That master class this week Mark and Gary worked with Eoghan on one particular high note in his song that he’s been struggling with all week.

Leaving more confident he’s been practising the vocal scales the guys gave him in the house and he’s looking forward to getting out there again on Saturday and wave the flag for the boys category.

X Factor contestant Rachel Hylton, has turned a corner in the last week and is really up beat and happy, deciding not to let al the negative press stories about her knock her confidence any more.

So with her head down and a song choice she’s thrilled with this week, Rachel’s determined to enjoy the time she has left in the show, she’s convinced herself she’s not going to win but she’s determined to make the most of the opportunity she has.

Rachel’s also taken up power plate classes in a bid to tone up and shed a few pounds.

Gary Barlow was really blown away with Rachel at the master class, saying she was one of the ones that impressed him the most.

Rachel also took away some good advise from Mark who commented that in previous weeks she had come out looking like she had something to prove, and he advised her that this week she should come out and perform like she’s already won and to enjoy it, because she’s come so far to get where she is.

X Factor judge Louis Walsh has branded his colleague Dannii Minogue as “heartless” after she vetoed his band, JLS’ song choice for this week.

As we all know, this week is Take That week on the ITV talent show and Louis was trying to secure the song ‘Rule The World’ for his boys JLS. Both Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole agreed to his decision, but Dannii Minogue had first pick of the songs and insisted that her act, Rachel Hylton get the song.

Even after JLS went to her dressing room to beg for the song Dannii still remained unswayed.

A show source told The Sun: “To say that Louis is furious is an understatement — he is steaming mad.

“JLS were going to sing it on the Best of British night last Saturday, but were saving it instead for Take That week.

“They’ve wanted to do it for so long.

“It’s all kicking off. JLS are devastated. They even went to Dannii’s dressing room after this week’s show, but she’s adamant that Rachel’s going to sing it. The boys are now having to sing Back For Good.”

The source added: “Louis is now going around saying that Dannii’s cold and heartless.”