We realise that The X Factor has been on for a number of years now, but surely the judges haven't run out of ways of showing their emotions at the end of an audition?

Or maybe they have...

During an episode of the ITV show, Nicole Scherzinger could be seen clutching her hand to her heart as hopeful Alisah Bonaobra performed Beyoncé's Listen in a bid to secure a place at Boot Camp.


But it turns out the same reaction clip of Nicole was used three weeks earlier as Jack Remington and Joel Fishel performed a medley of Ed Sheeran songs.

Taking to Twitter, one eagle-eyed viewer wrote: "Has anyone noticed X Factor use the same judges reactions for different auditions? Unless Nicole reacts the exact same way?"

After people started suggesting that this proved that The X Factor was fixed, a spokesperson for the show told Digital Spy that the issue was an editing mistake and did not affect any on-screen outcome.

"It looks like this was an error in the editing of the show," the insider said. "It doesn't change the context at all – but they'll be looking into ways to make sure this doesn't happen again."

It comes after former X Factor star Joe Conaboy, who appeared in the band Kingsland Road in series 10, appeared to accuse the reality show of being "a fix".

loungepinterest
Getty Images
Joe (far right) from Kingsland Road

Addressing some fans' claims that elements of the show are 'faked' or orchestrated by the producers, he said: "How are people so surprised about this?"

"When will people realise how it affects those involved and how FAKE it is?" he added in another tweet.

This is worse than finding out a certain bearded man in red isn't real either...