[Red Moon]

Dannii Minogue: 'It wouldn't be fair to let Laura back on X Factor'

Dannii Minogue has said it would be 'unfair' to let Laura White back on the X Factor following her shock dismissal from the competition.

The judge weighed into the debate after more than 40,000 fans signed a petition to have the 21-year-old jazz singer reinstated on the show.

In her column in Closer magazine, Dannii, 37, said: 'I don’t think It’d be fair on the other contestants – and it just highlights the points that you need to vote for who you like.

'If people had voted for Laura, and not assumed she was safe, she wouldn’t have been in that position.

'On the plus side, there are people in competitions like this who stand out and do amazingly afterwards, like Lemar – and I think Laura will have a long career.'

Laura had been the favourite to win the talent contest, but was booted out after judges Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell failed to save her.

Instead, Ruth Lorenzo, 25, was kept in the competition.

Dannii, who is Ruth's mentor in the over-25s category, added: 'I was incredibly proud of Ruth winning that vote though. She's a fighter.

'The Laura debacle has highlighted that anything can happen each week. Now Laura’s gone, the main Team Minogue competition is Diana and Alexandra – they’re great.'

Organisers of the petition backing Laura White have urged Ofcom to start an investigation into voting procedures on the show.

They made a formal complaint to the broadcasting watchdog, saying there has been a lack of transparency in X Factor voting and that viewers have complained they could not get through to vote for the aspiring star.

But a spokesman for the X Factor refused to reveal voting figures while the competition is still going on, and insisted there were no problems with the phone lines or voting system in the week of Laura's exit.

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham even waded into the row, telling MPs that the 'wonderful and talented' singer had been 'harshly' treated by the judges.

Support for Laura has been echoed by pop band McFly, who told Closer magazine that they could not believe she had been voted off the show.

ead guitarist, Danny Jones, 22, said: 'I want to sign her to our record company. She was my favourite of this series – she’s got a bit of grit in her voice and I like ballsy music.

'She just *********g goes for it – not in a cheesy way either. And like me, she’s from Bolton, so that makes her even better!'

Some have suggested that it was Laura's apparent relationship with TV executive Matthew Firsht, rather than her signing, that turned fans off.

Reports had claimed Firsht, 38, was a TV executive from the show, but White denied the allegations.

She told reporters at a press conference: 'He had no involvement in the show. I'd only been seeing him for four months anyway so that's why I never spoke about it. It's private and I'm a private person.'

Firsht has organised audiences for the weekly live programme through his company Applause Store

Source: Daily Mail

[Scotboy88]

If Diana was still sick, then producer would dismiss her, then Laura is her replacement .