X Factor is fixed, viewers claim after supposedly hearing Simon Cowell tell judges save Che Chesterman

Che Chesterman remains in the singing contest after Anton Stephens was voted off

Viewers of last night’s X Factor results show have branded the talent contest a fix after claiming to have heard lead judge Simon Cowell telling his panel which act to send home.

The music mogul’s last remaining act Anton Stephans was given the boot after a sing-off with Nick Grimshaw’s Che Chesterman, with the judges having the final say on who would remain in the competition.

But before their votes were cast, Cowell was allegedly caught whispering “Che, Che” to Grimshaw, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Rita Ora, seemingly indicating that he wanted his own act to leave.

Cowell did end up saying he wanted Stephans to stay, but the other three opted to keep Chesterman.

It is the second consecutive week that The X Factor has come under fire after Olly Murs faced a backlash last Sunday for announcing the result before the public vote had been officially revealed.

The TV presenter and former contestant told the audience that Monica Michaels would be leaving when the result had actually gone to deadlock. He quickly apologised, saying “I’m sorry guys, I made a mistake”, and posted a message on Twitter admitting he “made a massive f**k-up”.

Murs later hit back at critics, claiming his mistake had been “blown out of proportion”. “I think you need to put it in perspective with everything that’s going on in the world,” he said.

Back in 2012, there was a public outcry after producer Richard Holloway was seen whispering into former judge Louis Walsh’s ear before Carolynne Poole’s controversial exit.

The executive was forced to deny that the show is a fix, after Walsh initially appeared to save Poole before changing his mind and backing eccentric performer Rylan Clark when both were in the bottom two.

Take That’s Gary Barlow, who was also a judge at the time, stormed off following the decision and then host Dermot O’Leary said afterwards that it had been a “weird” show.

Mason Noise also left The X Factor this weekend after a 10-minute flash vote on Saturday night.

Simon Cowell's representatives and ITV are yet to respond to our request for comment on the allegations.