[Callum]

X FACTOR finalists were fuming last night after Laura White’s secret affair with a show executive was exposed.
The Sun can reveal that sexy jazz singer Laura, 21, has been dating 38-year-old Mathew Firsht for MONTHS.

She tried desperately to keep the relationship secret from rival contestants and other bosses on the ITV1 talent show.

Dad Adrian, 50 — who also acts as her agent — last week denied Laura even had a boyfriend, saying: “She’s decided to stay away from them.”

Now X Factor chiefs and other contestants are said to be “shocked and angry” after the relationship was revealed.

A source told The Sun: “Laura has done her best to keep this a secret as she knows it looks a bit suspect.

“But some people have found out and have been bitching about it.”

Mathew — said to be a millionaire — has close links to X Factor supremo Simon Cowell and his fellow judges Cheryl Cole, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh.

The source added: “Mathew is always backstage with them.” The executive has been a key part of the show for years, organising audiences for the weekly live show through his company Applause Store.

He is regularly seen on set wearing headphones, and often chats with the judges backstage.

Mathew — whose company also organises audiences for Cowell’s show Britain’s Got Talent — has already helped Laura get on X Factor.

He met her at a Britain’s Got Talent audition in March, when her dad asked if she could sing for the crowd.

Mathew explained how she could audition for X Factor. He and Laura became close soon after, then started dating.

The couple have been spotted kissing and cuddling in central London’s trendy Covent Garden district, where Mathew shares a flat with his brother. He has also spent time with Laura’s family, being seen arriving at a London restaurant with his girlfriend and her dad in a car covered in “Vote Laura” stickers.

One pal revealed: “Mathew and Laura’s family get on really well. They went out for a meal and it was all very jolly. Mathew is obviously besotted by her. He really thinks she’ll be a massive star.”

Mathew is said to be convinced that talented Laura will win X Factor, and has been urging her family to place bets backing her. Bookies last night made her 10/3 second favourite to win the show, behind 17-year-old Diana Vickers.

An X Factor spokeswoman insisted Mathew had no influence on the outcome of the show. She said: “Laura’s personal relationship with Mathew has no bearing on her place in the competition.”

Mathew previously hit the headlines in July when he sued a former pal who signed him up to gay groups on social networking website Facebook.

Source: The Sun