[Kazanne]

X Factor is quickly becoming known as Fix Factor, and this is making one Mr Simon Cowell a very angry man. Last night the X Factor boss and judge hit back at claims Sunday's X Factor result was a fix.

He dismissed the public's fears of a conspiracy as "nonsense", despite viewer's complaints that the public vote was expected to decide which acts got booted off.

Instead judges picked from the bottom two after a sing-off, and few were surprised when Simon stuck by pal Cheryl's act Cher.

Angry fans suspected the change was brought in at the last minute to ensure Cher Lloyd, 17, got into the final rather than Mary Byrne, 51.

However, Simon told The Sun: "We haven't done anything wrong."

He added: "All the artists knew there was going to be a sing-off.

"Mary and Cher were told last Monday to prepare a song for a sing-off if necessary."

Simon claimed he did not change the system due to Cher coming bottom of the public vote - because he has no idea about the votes.

However, even the X Factor's website was declaring Sunday's show would be determined by the public, stating: "The act with the fewest votes will leave the competition."

He explained: "I genuinely do not know the exact placings of the artists - who is top and who is bottom. I never know those details until the series is finished."

But whilst Simon is claiming: "This is a lot of nonsense about nothing," more than 200 fans have made official complaints to telly watchdog Ofcom and a further 50 lodged complaints with ITV.

Mary who was voted off the show by Simon has already landed a record deal with Sony.

She is now fighting back and last night accused X Factor bosses of rigging the show to get rid of her.

She claims show chiefs knew before the sing-off the public had voted for her but wanted "more marketable" Cher Lloyd to stay in.

Mary told The Mirror: "It's a fix. It's obvious Simon Cowell didn't want me."

The Tesco worker added: "The show's a fix, of course it is. It's not the show the public think it is. I knew the public had voted for me to stay on, and I actually thought the result would be based just on their vote.

"It was only on Saturday I discovered that there would be a sing-off where the judges decided.

"It's obvious Simon didn't want me in the final and I get that. I'm not as marketable to him as Cher so he was never going to put me through.

"They fixed it for me to lose. It didn't matter what the public think.

"Simon apologised to me afterwards and I joked: 'You could have warned me, you b*****d.' He told me I was going to be a multi-millionaire within a year though so I'm happy with that. That's why I gave it everything on stage, because I knew the result, and I knew it would be my last song. On Saturday I was given the 'save me' songs. I knew then my days were numbered."

Mary claimed she was told she had beaten Cher in the public vote.

But a member of the show's production crew hit said: "Simon and the entire team are -flabbergasted by Mary's claims. She loves a conspiracy theory. The judges claim they never know the result of the public vote before the sing-off."

If you are worrying about your votes going to waste this weekend, we have confirmation that this weekend's shows will see acts eliminated as a result of the viewers vote alone. There will be no sing-off during the final weekend.