One of the judges’ favourite boy bands, Rough Copy, have been flying through the rounds during this year’s early stages of The X Factor, which is of course back on our screens tonight…

However, despite being labeled as “brilliant talent”, Rough Copy have been booted from the contest because band member Kazeem Ajobe doesn’t have the correct visa status to return to the UK.

Therefore, if he left Britain to go to Judges’ Houses – which the band should have been doing – he would be refused entry to the UK on his return.

Last night Kazeem, who was born in Nigeria but who lives in South London, along with fellow band members Sterling Ramsay and Joseph Thomas, told the Daily Mirror, “We are gutted that we have had to leave the competition as we were having such a great time…

“Hopefully, if everything is OK with my visa, we can apply again next year.”

The paper adds, “Kazeem recently submitted an application for leave to remain in the UK which is currently being considered by the UK Border Agency.

“But he left it too late to travel to the judges’ houses – which are all abroad – and was told he would not be allowed to re-enter the country.”

A show source said, “It’s a total disaster. The band’s progress into the finals was almost a formality and producers were really excited about them.

“But they found out about the visa situation just as they were organising flights – and were left gutted when they realised the scale of the problem…

“They have no option but to axe them from the competition and replace them with another band which has proved a massive headache.

“To say the band are upset is an understatement but show bosses are even more so as they expected Rough Copy to shine.”
The show’s producers carry out checks on immigration status and visas at the Judges’ Houses stage of the competition, and show sources say that it would be a “logistical nightmare” to do them any sooner.

After finding out they’d been axed from the show, Rough Copy sent messages on Twitter to the judges, urging them to reconsider.

They tweeted Tulisa, saying, “There must be a way.”

In another tweet, they wrote, “Unhappy,” and in a message to Gary Barlow, they said, “Unhappy… Gazza.”

Last night, an X Factor spokesman said, “Rough Copy has been withdrawn from The X Factor as one of the group has a visa application currently being considered by the UK Border Agency.

“So if he travelled abroad for the Judges’ Houses part of the competition during this process, he would be unable to re-enter the country.”

As mentioned, The X Factor is back tonight on ITV1 at 8pm.