Stevi Ritchie cried that it "should’ve been him" after Paul Akister was voted off ‘The X Factor’ last night (09.11.14).
The wannabe popstar is said to have been feeling guilty after 25-year-old Paul lost the sing-off against Jay James on last night’s results show following judge Louis Walsh’s decision to put the vote to a deadlock resulting in him being sent home with less public votes.
Quizzed on how he felt about wild card contestant Stevi going through to next week’s show over him, Paul exclusively told BANG Showbiz: "He deserves it as much as anyone else, he’s an amazing person and he’d be missed in the house if he went. I think the show would miss him, genuinely, because he’s like proper Saturday night TV.
"So, yeah, he’s amazing and he actually came up to me when I got back home and he was crying saying, ‘It should’ve been me’. I was like, ‘Ah mate, don’t worry about that’.
"He’d doing his best as well."
Meanwhile, Paul – who was taken to the live shows by boys category judge Mel B after failing to get past Louis’ judge’s houses last year – admits he received mixed signals from his mentor.
Asked about the criticism of his attitude, he explained: "I was angry because actually I could hear, because I didn’t have my earpiece in for that performance, I could hear the VT playing behind me [on stage] and I could hear Mel B going, ‘He’s complaining about this, he’s complaining about this, he’s complaining about this…’
"So I actually did want to walk off the stage right then because I didn’t feel like singing and then I did it and obviously I was angry."
Quizzed on how it felt to hear her comments and then hear her say that he’d been a pleasure to work with once he was voted off, he added: "It’s crazy isn’t it? I do not know what to say about that because it is weird."
‘The X Factor’ continues on Saturday November 15 on ITV1 at 8.15pm.
Stevi Ritchie cried after Paul Akister was voted off The X Factor
