Cheryl Cole was at the centre of a race row on Sunday night after failing to put a black contestant through to the X Factor final despite admitting that she had an outstanding voice.
On Sunday, Cole decided that Gamu Nhengu, who had been one of the favourites to win the ITV talent show, would not go through to the last 12.
She told the 18-year-old Zimbabwean: “You are extremely adorable. You’ve got a great voice. It’s just a question for me now as to whether you brought the star quality that I was looking for yesterday.”
After hearing her decision, critics bombarded social networking websites with complaints. Twitter user, Reggie_Raye, said: “Every African mum in the country blamed Cheryl’s decision on racism, I know mine did.”
Another, frank_wh17e, wrote: “Is it me or is racism still alive?”
One message repeated on the site read: “Cheryl is so daft. I mean, just because Africa gave you malaria doesn’t mean you should take it out on poor Gamu.”
Cole, 27, was seriously ill with malaria this summer after a trip to Tanzania in the wake of the collapse of her marriage to footballer Ashley Cole over his infidelity.
A fan on Digital Spy’s forum wrote: “If these decisions were made on US X Factor, there’d be a race riot. I swear to God, African-Americans would go mental.”
On the Facebook group “I hate Cheryl Cole! She is racist!”, set up on Sunday, Morgan Michaela Davis wrote: “I don’t want to see racist people as judges on X Factor so I’ve complained to (regulator) Ofcom to have her sacked! Everyone should do the same.”
On Sunday, show sources said the X Factor racism claims had deeply upset Cole.
In 2003, she was charged with racially aggravated assault in after being involved in an altercation with a nightclub toilet attendant.
The singer was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, but cleared of racially aggravated assault and was sentenced to 120 hours of community service and ordered to pay her victim £500 in compensation.
Friends said her black friend, the rapper Will.i.am was with her when she decided against Gamu - and she had in fact acted on the advice of the production team.
Show sources claimed there were concerns over Gamu’s immigration status because her mother was in the process of renewing her visa to obtain leave to remain in Britain.
A friend said: “Cheryl is the least racist person imaginable. How can you say she is racist when she was married to a black man and had a black man sitting next to her at judge’s house?
“She takes her advice from the production team and is extremely upset by these slurs. She is mortified. Cheryl is really, really upset, to say the least. It’s unfair to blame her solely for the fact that Gamu was not able to go through to the live shows.
“Cheryl is a professional to her core and she loves the show. She was told by the producers that Gamu had some visa issues and they were worried about problems occurring later on during the show.”
Nhengu moved to Scotland eight years ago with her two younger brothers, after their mother, 38, began studying at Stirling University.
She has qualified as a nurse and was allowed to stay in the UK under the Fresh Talent scheme and had leave to remain - the right to stay - until August 29 this year. Nhengu and her siblings were allowed to stay in the UK as their mother’s dependents.
The family re-applied to stay in the UK in August but their application will take a couple of months to process. Home Office sources said there were no difficulties over her working.
The UK Border Agency said: “The family have resubmitted applications for leave to remain in the UK. Supporting documents, including passports, are required as part of the application process.
“Once the applicants make appointments to submit their biometric details, the applications will be considered in line with our published guidance.”
An X Factor source said: “It was lucky that Cheryl did her judge’s house in the UK as we would have had problems taking Gamu abroad as she does not have a valid passport.”
But the production insider stressed: “There were worries about Gamu’s immigration status during the auditions. But truly, Gamu did not make Cheryl’s final three as there were others thought to be more talented. That’s what it came down to.”
Meanwhile, Cher Lloyd, 17, made it through to final 12, despite concerns over her vulnerability.
Fears were raised for Lloyd after she buckled under the pressure during her final audition for Cole and failed to sing after battling a sore throat.
But on Sunday her father hit out at claims that she was too frail to take part, saying “her mental state is fine”.
The show’s producers are keeping a close eye on her and have made a counsellor available to all contestants. Cole decided to send Cher through based on her previous performances.
But Darren Lloyd dismissed the concerns. He told the Daily Mail: “People have said she cracked under the pressure with her audition on Saturday night but that was rubbish.
“She had tonsillitis and found it very difficult to sing. We are totally behind her and support her. She deserves to be in the live finals.
“Cher is absolutely delighted and excited to be in the live finals. Her mental state is fine, she’s focused and excited,” added Mr Lloyd, from Malvern, Worcestershire. - Daily Mail