[Kerry]

Gary Barlow, Tulisa Contostavlos, Kelly Rowland and Louis Walsh have wielded the axe at the X Factor Boot Camp in a surprise cull of contestants, Digital Spy can reveal.

The four judges arrived at the new Boot Camp venue Selsdon Park, where they announced a shock twist to the contestants on the hotel lawn.

Before the acts had a chance to prove themselves at Boot Camp a number of singers were given the boot on the spot as the judges claimed that the standard of several acts hadn't been up to scratch after reviewing the auditions.

"While you were partying last night, we were looking at your audition tapes," Kelly Rowland told the contestants. "We only want to work with the people who can go all the way."

Take That's Gary Barlow added: "We don't believe everyone standing in front of us has the potential to make it all the way in this competition. Some of you are going home now."

Tulisa Contostavlos warned the hopefuls: "This is a tough industry and we've got to believe in you."

A mixture of Girls, Boys, Groups and Overs were then eliminated out of the competition and missed out on a week of Boot Camp trials.

The X Factor launches on Saturday, August 20 at 8pm on ITV1.