Former X Factor semi finalist Ben Mills has given a very revealing interview to The Times today, in which he talks about the amount of staging and faking he experience during the 2006 series of the show.

Ben described his time on the ITV talent show as:

“completely surreal. Sharon [Osbourne, then a judge] wanted me to stage a walkout one week to generate a huge tabloid story and get me votes. When I refused, she didn’t speak to me again.”

Ben also revealed that Ray Quinnn and Simon Cowell were often less than honest with the viewers saying:

“Simon always pre-warned me if he was going to spice up the show a bit by slagging me off, but I’ve never forgiven Ray [Quinn, second, 2006, now playing Danny in Grease in the West End] for crying during the semi. I offered him 50 quid not to, but he’d made up his mind. You could almost hear the old ladies at home reaching for their phones.”

Stories like this make me a whole lot more cynical about any shows that Cowell is involved with. Much as I love X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, only a fool would believe that all is as it appears on screen. Did Simon Cowell really not remember Flawless from their performances on X Factor, was he really not aware that Shaheen’s second song was much better than his first and did he ever even fire Louis Walsh in 2007? I’ll let you make your own mind up!