Loser Rhyd: Final was fixed
X FACTOR loser Rhydian Roberts last night branded his shock defeat a “fix”.
The Welsh opera singer, 25, was odds-on favourite to beat winner Leon Jackson in Saturday night’s telly talent show final.
But thousands of his fans could not get through on phone lines to vote, leaving Rhydian feeling “stitched up”.
Fuming supporters yesterday bombarded The Sun, TV and radio stations and Rhydian’s website. And broadcasting watchdogs Ofcom will investigate the row after receiving 80 official complaints from viewers.
The runner-up’s dad Malcolm, 60, said: “Rhyd’s not a bad loser but he feels the same as us about the result – and we think it’s a fix. He believes it’s possible he was stitched up. He’s disappointed for himself and his fans.”
Malcolm, speaking at the family home near Brecon, Powys, added: “Most of Wales couldn’t get through.”
Outraged Sun reader Sylvia Wardley, 60, told us: “Between six of us we tried to vote for Rhydian 55 times but only got through twice. We tried Leon and got through straight away.”
Scot Leon, 18, ended up with ten per cent more votes than Rhydian.
Producers TalkbackThames said the voting bottleneck was down to the volume of calls and insisted the contest was not rigged.
The row follows a year of TV phoneline and quiz scandals.
Original article here