Holed up: Gamu Nhengu's mother Nokuthula, pictured yesterday outside the family's home in Scotland, said her daughter 'doesn't know' if she can speak to anyone following her rejection for the X Factor finals
Cheryl Cole was at the centre of a race row last night after failing to put a black contestant through to the X Factor final despite admitting that she had an outstanding voice.
On Sunday, Mrs Cole decided that Gamu Nhengu, who had been one of the favourites to win the ITV talent show, would not go through to the last 12.
She told the 18-year-old Zimbabwean: ‘You are extremely adorable. You’ve got a great voice.
‘It’s just a question for me now as to whether you brought the star quality that I was looking for yesterday.’
After hearing her decision, critics bombarded social networking websites with complaints.
Twitter user, Reggie_Raye, said: ‘Every African mum in the country blamed Cheryl’s decision on racism, I know mine did.’
Another, frank_wh17e, wrote: ‘Is it me or is racism still alive?’
One message repeated on the site read: ‘Cheryl is so daft. I mean, just because Africa gave you malaria doesn’t mean you should take it out on poor Gamu.’
Mrs Cole, 27, was seriously ill with malaria this summer after a trip to Tanzania in the wake of the collapse of her marriage to footballer Ashley Cole over his infidelity.
A fan on Digital Spy’s forum wrote: ‘If these decisions were made on U.S. X Factor, there’d be a race riot. I swear to God, African-Americans would go mental.’
Shock: Gamu is consoled by Cheryl Cole as finding out she has not been chosen for the Final 12
'Extremely adorable': Gamu learns of her fate from Cheryl at the Judge's House roundOn the Facebook group ‘I hate Cheryl Cole! She is racist!’, set up yesterday, Morgan Michaela Davis wrote: ‘I don’t want to see racist people as judges on X Factor so I’ve complained to [regulator] Ofcom to have her sacked! Everyone should do the same.’
Yesterday, show sources said the X Factor racism claims had deeply upset Mrs Cole.
In 2003, she was charged with racially aggravated assault after being involved in an altercation with a nightclub toilet attendant.
The singer was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, but cleared of racially aggravated assault and was sentenced to 120 hours of community service and ordered to pay her victim £500 in compensation.
Friends said her black friend, the rapper Will.i.am was with her when she decided against Gamu – and she had in fact acted on the advice of the production team.
Show sources claimed there were concerns over Gamu’s immigration status because her mother was in the process of renewing her visa to obtain leave to remain in Britain.
Support: Over 128,000 people have joined the 'Gamu should have got though' group on FacebookA friend said: ‘Cheryl is the least racist person imaginable. How can you say she is racist when she was married to a black man and had a black man sitting next to her at judge’s house?
‘She takes her advice from the production team and is extremely upset by these slurs. She is mortified. Cheryl is really, really upset, to say the least. It’s unfair to blame her solely for the fact that Gamu was not able to go through to the live shows.
‘Cheryl is a professional to her core and she loves the show. She was told by the producers that Gamu had some visa issues and they were worried about problems occurring later on during the show.’
Miss Nhengu moved to Scotland eight years ago with her two younger brothers, after their mother, 38, began studying at Stirling University.
She has qualified as a nurse and was allowed to stay in the UK under the Fresh Talent scheme and had leave to remain – the right to stay – until August 29 this year.
Miss Nhengu and her siblings were allowed to stay in the UK as their mother’s dependents.
Helping hand: Cheryl and her friend Will.i.am, who helped her whittle down her contestants to three actsThe family re-applied to stay in the UK in August but their application will take a couple of months to process. Home Office sources said there were no difficulties over her working.
The UK Border Agency said: ‘The family have resubmitted applications for leave to remain in the UK. Supporting documents, including passports, are required as part of the application process.
‘Once the applicants make appointments to submit their biometric details, the applications will be considered in line with our published guidance.’
An X Factor source said: ‘It was lucky that Cheryl did her judge’s house in the UK as we would have had problems taking Gamu abroad as she does not have a valid passport.’
But the production insider stressed: ‘There were worries about Gamu’s immigration status during the auditions. But truly, Gamu did not make Cheryl’s final three as there were others thought to be more talented. That’s what it came down to.’
Meanwhile, Cher Lloyd, 17, made it through to final 12, despite concerns over her vulnerability.
Fears were raised for Miss Lloyd after she buckled under the pressure during her final audition for Mrs Cole and failed to sing after battling a sore throat.
Cheryl's girls: (L-R) Cher Lloyd, Katie Waissel and Rebecca FergusonBut yesterday her father hit out at claims that she was too frail to take part, saying ‘her mental state is fine’.
The show’s producers are keeping a close eye on her and have made a counsellor available to all contestants. Mrs Cole decided to send Cher through based on her previous performances.
But Darren Lloyd dismissed the concerns. He told the Daily Mail: ‘People have said she cracked under the pressure with her audition on Saturday night but that was rubbish.
‘She had tonsillitis and found it very difficult to sing. We are totally behind her and support her. She deserves to be in the live finals.
‘Cher is absolutely delighted and excited to be in the live finals. Her mental state is fine, she’s focused and excited,’ added Mr Lloyd, from Malvern, Worcestershire.
Still hope for the wildcards
A handful of axed contestants will be given a second chance to return to the show, it has emerged.
The four judges have each been given a ‘wild card’ entry that will allow them to bring their favourite reject back for the live finals, which will begin on Saturday.
Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh had each selected three hopefuls to go through last weekend.
The wild card means that they will all be able to pick one extra contestant from their groups. Their decisions will be announced on Saturday’s show.
Producers made the decision after being impressed by the standard of contestants on this year’s show.
However, an X Factor source said Simon has been keen to spice up the format with ‘wild card’ finalists for several years and that he has decided to implement the stunt after being convinced it will become a ratings winner.
source: dailymail
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