X-Factor judge Louis Walsh is now at the centre of a fix scandal after he was seen talking furiously to a member of the show’s staff while hopeful Carolynne Poole was performing in the sing-off.

According to The Metro, this person was executive producer Richard Holloway, which has led to speculation Louis was told to send the vote to deadlock in a bid to keep Rylan Clark on the show. “Live from the audience at #xfactor Louis saying to Tulisa he was told to take it to DEADLOCK.” said a tweet from an audience member. “Fix!” the masses have cried. “I’m pretty sure The X Factor just showed the whole country how set up it is. Not that we didn’t know that anyway. The producers f*cked it” tweeted the erstwhile X-Factor bad-boy Frankie Cocozza.

It hasn’t been a sterling week for ITV’s flagship talent show; in addition to the ‘fix’ claims, many were angry at the decision to open the phone lines before the acts had even sung. ITV told The Mirror: “This is a hugely positive change to The X Factor voting format to meet the changing needs and behaviour of our highly engaged viewers.” But viewers have been moved to label the show “money hungry” as the animosity continues. The X-Factor hey? It never fails to make the headlines.