6 Dec 2010 - X Factor contestant Wagner Carrilho was finally given the boot from the show - amid claims he bought cannabis inside the TV studios. Simon Cowell was said to be privately relieved that the Brazilian oddball was no longer on the show.

He believed the credibility of the competition was at stake if the singer had progressed in the competition and he didn't like the "relentless" revelations about Wagner's private life.

This reached a head with claims in the Sunday Mirror that Wagner, 54, bought cannabis backstage on the show. Cowell said the result was for the good of the programme - and alluded to a Facebook campaign to keep Wagner Carrilho on the show.

25 Oct 2010 - X Factor contender Wagner Carrilho has laughed off stories about him smoking cannabis, saying he is "a singer, not a saint".

Pictures showing the Brazilian sharing a rolled-up cigarette with a work colleague were published on Friday.

But the singer, who lives near Dudley in the West Midlands, joked: "Every spliff is a roll-up but not every roll-up is a spliff. Sorry if I'm a singer, not a saint."