Katie Waissel threatens to quit X Factor after 'bullying campaign' against her

By SARA NATHAN

'On the brink': Katie Waissel is said to be threatening to quit The X Factor


X Factor contestant Katie Waissel has threatened to quit the show following a ‘bullying campaign’ against her.

The 24-year-old apparently suffered a breakdown in the X Factor house after a public backlash against her.

A show source told the Daily Mail: ‘Katie is on the brink – she’s a drama queen at the best of times – but she just feels like she can’t go on.

‘She told producers and spoke to [show judges] Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole and they are both trying to get her to stay.

‘But as outgoing and quirky as she is, she’s only human and she is in tears over the bullying tactics people are using to get her out of the show.

‘She collapsed in tears on Monday night, she hasn’t been eating or sleeping.
'Then to cap it all, her voice has gone and she went to see a doctor who told her she had to rest and put her on antibiotics.

'We had no option but to allow her to go home for the evening - she’s not allowed to stay at home, but she had dinner with her parents.’

Miss Waissel was the subject of an internet campaign to stop viewers voting for her after fans argued that her mentor Miss Cole should not have picked her as one of her acts for the live finals.

She had failed to complete two of her three songs during the audition process yet was still put through ahead of viewers’ favourite Gamu Nhengu.

The campaign clearly worked, as on last weekend’s first live shows Miss Waissel was in the bottom three of the public vote. But she was kept in when Louis Walsh made the key vote in her favour.

Walsh said yesterday: ‘Honestly, I know I did the right thing. Katie was the better contestant. I really feel for the girl, this competition is hard and she’s trying her best.

'She can sing – she’s just being punished for the fact that Gamu wasn’t picked and that’s not right.’


No.1 fan: Katie with her mother Diana, who has come forward to defend her daughter


Miss Waissel’s mother Diana said her daughter needed to be looked after differently by Miss Cole.

She added: ‘Katie may come across as annoying, but she just wants to stand out. She’s learning to handle the criticism.’

Last year, some of the show's fans turned on talented singer Danyl Johnson, and Katie's mother Diana said she did not want the same thing happening to her daughter.


Kisses and hugs: Katie gives X Factor choreographer Brian Friedman a hug as she bumps into him in Covent Garden yesterday


Walk this way: Storm, Brian and Katie head off for a shopping spree


'There seems to be this thing that Katie has got someone else's place,' she told The Sun. 'I don't know why everyone is blaming her.

'It happened last year in a way to Danyl and he was a good singer and he was a nice guy and he was pushed out.'

Diana, who runs a clothes shop in north west London, added: 'I don't want that to happen to Katie. She is a team player and a lovely girl.

'She has a very supportive family. We don't like all these bullying tactics.'
She said: 'I want the British public to get behind her and give her a chance.'


'Give her a chance': Katie survived Sunday's elimination by the skin of her teeth


source :dailymail