Simon Cowell reduced Bella Penfold to tears as he awarded her a safe seat on ‘The X Factor’ earlier this evening (29.09.18).
The music mogul was so impressed by Bella’s performance of Stormzy’s ‘Blinded By Your Grace’ – which also drew praise from the other judges – that he decided to reward her with the Golden X, which means she cannot be swapped out of the competition during the round.
But following her performance, Simon explained: "Bella, I’m not sure this is going to make me very popular, but I can’t give you a seat."
The whole arena then started to boo Simon.
At that moment, he revealed his reasoning, getting up out of his chair, walking towards the stage and smashing the secure seat button.
The incident prompted fellow judge Louis Tomlinson to admit: "You had me fooled there!"
Simon added: "Now we have to decide which of those chairs you’re going to fill."
Meanwhile, Robbie heaped praise on Bella’s performance, saying: "I think you’re phenomenal, I really do. Great vocals, great rapping. You got Wembley buzzy."
Ayda Field said: "Bella it’s not polished, it’s raw, you’ve got so much going for you."
Louis was similarly impressed, adding: "Bella, thank you, because my pet hate, is every Tom, Dick and Harry thinking they can rap. But you should be rapping."
Simon Cowell reduces Bella Penfold to tears before giving her a safe seat
