London
(ANI):
Music
mogul
Simon
Cowell
has
earned
himself
the
ire
of
his
fellow
judges
by
dumping
an
X
Factor
hopeful
in
favour
of
a
'reject'.
Cowell's
decision
to
remove
21-year-old
Rikki
Loney,
who
had
been
among
the
six
lucky
contestants
that
made
it
to
the
judges'
houses
stage
of
the
contest,
resulted
in
a
showdown
with
Cheryl
Cole,
25,
and
Dannii
Minogue,
36.
The
decision
has
exposed
Cowell
to
another
series
of
X
Factor
'fix'
allegations.
Cowell
is
said
to
have
changed
his
mind
and
yanked
dumbstruck
Loney
out
of
the
line-up
to
replace
him
with
Liam
Payne,
15,
from
Wolverhampton.
Loney
has
lashed
out
at
Cowell,
48,
revealing
his
feelings
about
the
decision.
"I
am
gutted.
Simon
decided
to
dump
me
in
favour
of
someone
else
at
the
last
minute," the
Daily
Star
quoted
him
as
saying.
Loney
revealed
that
he
was
waiting
in
the
wings
at
the
O2
Arena
in
London
to
hear
his
fate
from
the
judges,
when
he
and
the
rest
of
the
boys
aged
14-24
were
told
by
producers
that
the
decision
had
been
delayed.
"He
couldn't
even
look
me
in
the
eye
when
he
told
me
it
was
over.
Cheryl
and
Dannii
weren't
happy
with
this
and
that's
why
they
were
arguing," he
stated.
"No-one
had
a
clue
what
was
going
on.
Then
all
of
a
sudden
I
was
separated
from
the
other
boys
backstage.
I
could
hear
Dannii
and
Cheryl
raise
their
voices
but
I
didn't
know
why.
Now
I
realise
they
were
arguing
about
me.
The
panel
asked
me
to
stay
behind
after
the
others
had
gone
and
Cheryl
told
me:
'I
am
so
sorry.'
I
could
see
Louis
and
Dannii
looking
upset
as
well.
But
Simon
couldn't
look
at
me.
I
knew
then
it
had
been
his
decision
to
axe
me.
I
was
gutted," he
added.