Rikki Loney : Cheryl messed up my chances

Rikki Loney has blasted Mentor Cheryl Cole letting him down when it really mattered. In a wide ranging interview with the Sun Newspaper Rikki alleged that Cheryl Cole was so stressed out by the prospect of having to perform live that the contestant had to spend all their practice time reassuring her rather than the other way round.

He also said the song choices Cheryl had given him were the wrong ones and even Whitney Houston and music guru Clive Davis had advised him to switch from Aretha Franklin's Respect (Buy MP3 now) to Whitney's My Love Is Your Love (Buy MP3 now) , but with 24hrs to the live show it just was not possible.

He also had praise for the Twins John and Edward Grimes who he claimed behind the scenes were really hardworking and professional.