[Arneldo]

Simon Cowell has defended X Factor's Leona Lewis after she was pictured with two professional voice coaches.

The contestant - and favourite to win the show - has recently appeared in newspapers with coaches named as CeCe Sammy and John Modi. She has been accused of twisting the show's rules by taking professional lessons.

However, her mentor Cowell claims she was doing nothing wrong by having lessons and is questioning the source of the photographs.

"These are innocent photos of a girl who wants to be successful," he told the Daily Star. "Over half of the contestants will have practised with vocal coaches before coming on the show, of course."

He also responded to allegations he had worked with the coaches himself in the past, commenting: "They were vocal coaches on previous shows I’ve worked on, but they are not the vocal coaches on this series."

Cowell added: "I don’t know who’s behind it, but these pictures keep appearing. It’s not fair. It’s jealousy. There has been innuendo and rumour and speculation around her since day one."

"Someone out there doesn’t want Leona to win. Simple as that," he continued. "Someone’s out to get her."

DS