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Bad Lashes: We wanted Cheryl Cole as mentor

13/10/2008

X Factor rejects Bad Lashes have claimed they would still be in the competition if they had been given Cheryl Cole as their mentor.

The quartet became the first act to be voted off the new series of the X Factor on Saturday after a viewer vote left them in the bottom two with Girlband.

With both acts tied after the judges' votes, the power was put back in the hands of the TV audience and with more viewers having voted for Girlband, Bad Lashes became the first act to leave the show.

Speaking to the Sun newspaper, Bad Lashes' Emily McNamee claimed they would have survived on the show with a different mentor.

"Louis said: 'I know how boybands work. I've done it with Westlife, blah blah blah'. He said he managed Girls Aloud for a bit but wasn't very good."

She went on: "When we found out we'd got Louis, I was a bit gutted. We all wanted Cheryl because obviously, being in Girls Aloud, she knows what she's talking about. She's done it all.

"She's been in the same position as us with Popstars: The Rivals. She's a woman, she's close to our age, she knows our style. She said she knew what songs she'd have chosen for us.

"She got us straight away. I think Louis found us a bit harder to get."

However Louis rubbished suggestions he favoured boyband JLS in the groups category and said Bad Lashes always faced an uphill struggle.

"I love Bad Lashes," he said. "I tried to do something different with them, but even if I'd got them doing 'Riverdance' backwards it wouldn't have helped.

"I don't know why, but girlbands don't do well on the show - look at Hope and The Conway Sisters."