X Factor's Louis Walsh forced to make grovelling apology to Misha B as Sami Brookes DENIES she was bullied by rival contestant

By Holly Thomas

Last updated at 2:20 PM on 24th October 2011

Louis Walsh stunned millions when he accused contestant Misha B of backstage bullying on X Factor's live Saturday show.

And less than 24 hours later the 59-year-old was forced to issue a humiliating apology for his inappropriate remark.

Now, in a bizarre twist, Misha's alleged 'victim', now-eliminated Sami Brookes, has declared that 'there was no bullying going on at all.'

Humiliating: Louis Walsh has been forced to apologise for his claim on X Factor's live Saturday show that Misha B was 'bullying' one of his contestants

Rubbish: Ex-contestant Sami Brookes, pictured on ITV Daybreak, said during her interview that claims Misha bullied her are completely false

Appearing on ITV's This Morning, 31-year-old Sami said: 'There have been accusations, but I'm going to stamp out the bullying thing. There has been no bullying going on at all.'

'Can you imagine? I'm nearly 6ft, she [Misha] is 5ft bloody 1. As if she's going to bully a big girl like me. It's laughable and ridiculous.'

LOUIS WILL STAY AS JUDGE SAYS SIMON COWELL

It was reported in The Sun that Simon Cowell has been tipped to replace Louis Walsh on the X Factor judging panel next year to boost falling ratings.
The paper claimed that show bosses believed Simon's move to the US was the fatal flaw which has seen this series loose 2.5 million viewers.
The Daily Mail can confirm these suggestions are incorrect, and that Simon sent Louis a supportive text last night to dispel rumours that he would be asked to leave the show.

Referring to Tulisa raising the subject of Misha's alleged 'mean comments' on the show, the singer added: 'I don't disagree with what Tulisa did. She was just standing up for her act at the end of the day'.

Sami finished with praise for her former rival, saying: 'Misha is confident in her own skin. She knows how to work it. She knows how to stand on a stage. I haven't got a bad thing to say about her, honestly.'

Louis said last night: 'I shouldn't have called Misha a bully and I apologise for that.'

19-year-old Misha has defended herself against the judges' offensive comments, saying Tulisa's interjection 'hurt my feelings.'

While she insisted she had not bullied anyone on the show, she did allude to the fact that there may have been issues in the past. Misha said: 'I've made mistakes but I'm a different person now.'

The contestant, whose mentor Kelly Rowland insisted was actually very 'humble', told The Daily Mirror that she never targeted anyone on the show.

Humbled: Misha has admitted that things have become heated backstage, but says that she has learned from the experience

'Saturday's experience will make me stronger. I really looked up to Tulisa and the way she has gone on about girl power, but I feel the situation could have been dealt with a lot better.

'Being called an X Factor bully on national TV was not fair. I know I am not a bad person. Tulisa hurt my feelings because there are always two sides to every story.'

'I'm here for the music Things do get heated backstage, but I'm going to take on board what they've said and take it in my stride,' the singer continued.

Inappropriate: On the live Saturday show the 59-year-old said 'one of my contestants has complained to me that Misha has been bullying her'

Inappropriate: On the live Saturday show 59-year-old Louis said 'one of my contestants has complained to me that Misha has been bullying her'

The girls' statements are entirely at odds with some made by X Factor sources, who have claimed that things were indeed as nasty between the pair as it appeared when the controversy kicked off on Saturday night.

According to the Sun, Louis was referring to ex-contestant Sami Brookes when he said 'One of my contestants has complained to me that Misha has been bullying her.'

Embarrassingly, it was then Sami who was eliminated by the judges vote when she and Kitty Brucknell came bottom two in the public vote.

Reports that Misha had sustained a prolonged campaign of jibes against 31-year-old Sami, allegedly reached its climax on a group outing to the Hard Rock Cafe on Thursday.

Kicked off: The entire controversy started when Tulisa said that she had heard reports of Misha making mean comments to other contestants backstage

Misha apparently indicated that Sami wasn't one of the X Factor 'top four', before ensuring that she was eclipsing Sami from the view of the photographers snapping the contestants as they partied.

'Misha muscled herself into the limelight' a source said.

The next day emotions overflowed as Sami reportedly broke down in tears, in a scene which later prompted Louis to attempt to reprimand Misha during the live show.

Tulisa was the first to raise the issue during the show, claiming that the show's diva had been making 'mean comments' backstage towards some of her fellow contestants.

Ineffective: Despite Louis' outburst, his contestantsSami and Kitty were in the bottom two last night, with Sami eliminated by the judges vote

Misha's mentor Kelly Rowland was furious with Tulisa and Louis for their remarks- but the bulk of her fury was directed at Tulisa for kicking off the live row.

'Kelly came off the set with steam pouring out of her ears,' a witness claimed.

'She demanded to speak to producers and screamed "How did you let her get away with something like that!"

Outrage: Kelly Rowland was furious that Tulisa and Louis had raised the issue of bullying in public

'She said she felt like she had been stitched up as they could have tackled any issues with Misha off air and not air their dirty laundry in front of millions of viewers.'

She was trembling with rage. Poor old Misha was in tears after the onslaught from Louis and Tulisa,' the witness added.

Another source said: 'Tulisa was just trying to be controversial, but it massively backfired.'

Not vulnerable: Sami has insisted that the idea Misha could possibly harm her is 'laughable and ridiculous'

Kelly has apparently told friends that she refuses to speak to Tulisa, telling friends: 'it's war. Who the hell does she think she is?'

An insider claims that Kelly vented her rage towards Louis for over an hour in his dressing room, which led to his about turn last night.

An insider has also claimed that Kitty was in the line of fire for several other spiteful comments from Misha.

To add to the milieu of bad feeling, Gary Barlow and Louis are said have engaged in a furious row off camera, with Louis accusing Gary of 'slating his acts to show off.'

Kiss goodbye! Sami embraced Kitty with a passionate farewell after she was eliminated last night

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Monday, October 24, 2011