During last night’s episode of The X Factor: The Band, Pussycat Doll babe Nicole Scherzinger broke down as Kelli Marie Willis performed a heartbreaking audition for the judges.
Nicole, 41, burst into tears after Kelli Marie performed an original track about feeling alone which saw Nicole claim that she “wasn’t alone anymore.”
Before the teen started singing, she told judges Simon Cowell, Nicole and Leona Lewis that she wanted to sing a song that revealed her insecurities about feeling alone.
Battling through tears, Nicole said: “You are not alone anymore.
(Image: Dymond/Thames/Syco/REX)
“It’s hard to share your true feelings and know what people are going to think but it’s through our imperfections and through our flaws that really connect us all and make us realise we’re all alike and all the same.”
Head judge Simon Cowell, 60, also praised the performance saying: “It was b****y brilliant, the song is a killer song, absolutely killer song, it was current, cool, relevant, important, everything we’re looking for so let me be the first to say yes!”
Kelli’s choice to perform an original penned track eventually paid off as she landed a spot in the final band, which will go head-to-head with the boyband during a live show on Sunday.
The episode aired after it was announced that ITV had signed another five year deal with Simon’s company, SyCo, but the deal only ensured The X factor had been commissioned until next year, 2020.
Over the last few years, The X Factor has seen the viewing numbers plummet and the latest installment, The Band peaked at 4.12 million viewers but quickly dropped to 3.13 million.
(Image: Getty Images)
Speaking to the MailOnline, a source revealed: “The show performed well with younger audiences and despite the Question Time special this week targeted at the Under 30s, X factor still pulled in 50% more of those key 16-34 viewers!”
During its heyday, the singing competition pulled in an average of 14 million viewers across the series but in recent years it’s struggled to grab half of that.
Viewers also saw X Factor Queen Leona Lewis return as a guest judge – with fans branding her “fearless”.
Leona’s return comes 14 years after her being crowned the winner of series three.
The X Factor: The Band airs on Friday at 8:30pm on ITV
