X Factor star claims fake phone number used in voting scandal but bosses deny it

One star of axed ITV talent show X Factor has claimed show bosses would attempt to rig votes by flashing up the wrong phone number during live shows, something which the show has denied.

Storm Lee Gardner appeared on the 2010 series of X Factor, and made it through to the second live show with rock n' roll performances of Born to Run and We Built This City.

With his neon pink hair and refusal to take insults from head judge Simon Cowell, Storm soon had bosses' backs up.

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Now the star – who brands himself an "X Factor survivor" – has opened up exclusively to Daily Star about a voting scandal on the show.

Storm said the programme was "gratuitous, sadistic exhibitionism" which "decimates characters".

"It’s not even that they say, 'Hey, come on the show and sing a wee song. We don't like you and don't want to work with you, thanks, on you go'.

"No! They will destroy any credibility, any integrity you might have had, so that no other record company, manager or agent would want to work with you, because you’re X Factor spoiled goods," he explained.

Storm added: "By the time you get onto the live show, they’ve already decided who they want to work with and who they want to sign.

"You’re going to be doing a deal with Simon Cowell in collaboration with Sony, so they already know who is going to be compliant enough to agree to these horrific contracts they make you sign.

"And they do make you sign. You’ve got no choice. They say, 'If you’ve got a problem with the contract there are 350,000 people who could right now take your place.'"

Adding insult to injury, Storm claimed that the wrong voting number was often flashed up on screen for his performances.

He said: "They used to flash the phone numbers on-screen. Do you know how many times they flashed the wrong phone number for me? That’s how they manipulate voting so it doesn’t go through. Very duplicitous.

"They put the wrong numbers, they change your song at the last minute. They research songs they know are not going to inspire the public."

When approached for comment, an X Factor spokesperson said: "We adhere to strict compliance and regulatory rules for all voting, and it is categorically not true to say phone numbers were flashed on screen as a way to manipulate voting."

Storm also claims he was "pushed to quit" the programme by producers.

He said: "They keep pushing you to quit because they want the story, like 'Storm storms off'. They want that.

"But I was like, 'No I’m going to stick through this to the very end'.

"Ultimately, there's the damage of hundreds of thousands of singers who will probably never sing ever again now because X Factor says you can’t sing."

Now Storm is determined to change the narrative for other performers.

He explained: "I want to give voice to people who were being victimised, bullied, terrorised, emotionally abused.

"They’re trying to go back to their village in Wales or up to Scotland or in England somewhere. They want to have a career in something they love, but they’re not going to get a chance.

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"They’ve been spoiled by this pretentious music show that’s not really got anything to do with music."

Storm went on: "[The show was] decimating characters and then sending them out on the train back home.

"Then you've got strangers watching your auditions and stuff on their phones, so the humiliation continues with no aftercare.

"Now in 2022 we can talk about mental health, but back then 12 years ago we basically were inviting the biggest bully of the decade into our living rooms and thinking it’s okay!"

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