X Factor 2014: Simon Cowell announces double eviction as he tells contestants to 'wake up'

Two acts will be eliminated following the Fright Night performances

Simon Cowell announced the twist to the contestants (Getty Images)

It’s a Halloween special on The X Factor this week – but it’s not ghosts or zombies that the contestants need to be frightened of.

This weekend will see two acts evicted from the singing competition in the second double elimination of the live shows.

However, this will be a set of farewells with a twist, in an attempt to inject some oomph into the ITV show.

It has been losing out to BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing in the Saturday night ratings battle.

The twist will see the act with the lowest number of votes eliminated on Saturday night without the opportunity to save themselves in a sing off. On Sunday, the remaining bottom two will go head to head to keep their place in the competition.

Simon Cowell announced the news to the contestants: “So there are no second chances. This is how important the conversation is now and how important the performance is on Saturday and Sunday. We decided to do this because I think you all need a bit of a wake up call.”

The X Factor pulled in an audience of 7.5 million on Saturday night, compared to an average 9.5 million viewers for Strictly Come Dancing.

On Sunday night Jake Quickenden has become the fourth contestant to leave after the judges decided to save Only The Young in the sing off.