Ayda Field broke down in tears during ‘X Factor’ filming over the thought of sending an act home.
The 39-year-old judge – who appears on the panel with husband Robbie Williams – brought filming to a halt as producers were forced to take a long break when it came to telling some of the Overs group that they weren’t going to progress to the next stage.
An insider told The Sun newspaper’s TV Bizarre column: "She completely broke down when she had to say ‘no’ to her contestants.
"At one point she was crying really badly and they had to stop filming. Robbie went in to console her and was hugging her and trying to calm her down. All the show’s execs were trying to help but she was a mess, it really hit her hard."
It has been an emotional time for Ayda recently, as she and Robbie – who have children Theodora, five, and Charlton, three, together – recently welcomed daughter Colette ‘Coco’ Josephine Williams via surrogacy.
She also broke down this month when an audition song from J-Sol reminded her of her father’s Haldun Evecan’s death.
The star’s dad – who she had no contact with between the ages of three and 18 – died of a heart attack aged 68 in 2014 and the performance forced her to confront her grief as it brought back memories of her late dad.
She said: "I will never forget how the world swallowed me up on that day when I found out.
"When J-Sol sang the first note, I was like, ‘Oh my God, here we go’.
"It touched me. I feel I needed to hear that song. I needed to feel some things I wasn’t ready to deal with. I was grateful."
Ayda Field breaks down at thought of sending X Factor contestants home
