Tonight’s X Factor is going to be an interesting state of affairs. As I mentioned earlier, Simon will speak to Alan Turner about claims he lied about not knowing his father.

We’ve written here in the past about the sob stories used on The X Factor to get the public interested in the contestants. Many a hard luck story has propelled a contestant further in this competition that if they’d relied on singing talent alone.

What’s new here is that Simon/The X Factor team are giving Alan an opportunity to respond to the press allegations on national television. This is quite unprecedented if you ask me, and makes us wonder if this publicity counterstrike is about the right to reply, or if they recognize Alan Turner as a viable contestant who might sell records by the bucketload.

Either way, it’ll be very interesting to see how far Alan gets in the competition now.

According to what we’re hearing, Alan tells us:

It was the hardest and most upsetting week of my life following my appearance on the show. I do not understand why my Dad did it, I’m going to fight back and not let him beat me, I thought he was going to call me up and say how proud he was after seeing me on the show, but he didn’t he went to the papers.

Simon takes him aside to address the rumours, saying “I just need to know”. I wonder what the consequences would have been if he’d said the story was true.

To some degree, the scene appears to be a stage managed hit back at the press. Were they being unfair? Was Alan’s father lying to the press? Does The X Factor have a long history of pushing tales of woe about contestants?

Who should we believe?

Ultimately, Simon walks away from his conversation with Alan ‘satisfied’ that he believes him. But will it be enough to satisfy the nation, and if Alan gets through to the live rounds, how will the press coverage affect his chances?