The furore surrounding the inclusion of faux-rapper Honey G in the live finals of The X Factor is reaching fever pitch.
More than 8,000 people have signed a petition set up by a family member of axed X Factor contestant Samantha Atkinson, calling for controversial act Honey G to be removed from the show.
Yasemin Kara, a cousin of Samantha, who was booted out of the show at the Judges’ Houses, set up the online petition asking for the 32-year-old landlady to be reinstated.
Samantha left after Honey G, real name Anna Georgette Gilford, was put through to the live stages by Overs category mentor Sharon Osbourne.
She said at the time that she’d decided to “take a risk” on the 35-year-old.
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She also chose 29-year-old Saara Aalto, from Finland, and 26-year-old Relley C, who was previously turned down by Nicole Scherzinger in the Judges’ Houses during the last series.
Yasemin appealed for people to sign to, “show X Factor bosses and ITV that they have made a huge mistake”.
Samantha herself has appeared to distance herself from the petition.
Speaking about the rapper to BBC Radio Humberside, she said: “[Honey G] deserves her right to be in the competition as much as anyone else”.
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The petition was set up on Sunday night after it was revealed Sharon would be taking the ‘novelty’ rap act through to the live shows.
The petition reads: “Samantha Atkinson is my cousin and I and thousands of other X factor viewers feel she was robbed of her place on live shows tonight, when Sharon Osbourne gave Honey G one of them places in final 12.”
The petition had received 8,300 signatures by Tuesday morning.