Jermaine Jones - the baritone singer on this year's American Idol who was dubbed a "gentle giant" by the judges - has left the competition for concealing arrests from the show's producers. The singer has been cut before the semi-final round after it was discovered that he was arrested twice in 2011 - once for a violent incident, reports TMZ.com.

According to the entertainment website, Jermaine was arrested twice and gave police false names on both occasions. He also has outstanding warrants, which the Idol producers only learned of this week. The show will reportedly address the issue during Wednesday's episode (March 14, 2012), though Jones has already confirmed his departure from the show on Twitter, telling fans, "Awww I will no longer b on the show", before deleting his account entirely. Jones was regarded as one of the early favourites to win this year's competition, though his rendition of Stevie Wonder's Knocks Me Off My Feet last week left him as one of the three male singers receiving the fewest votes.

Over the past few days, Jones had told producers that his father abandoned him ten years ago, but his Dad actually called TMZ.com and claimed he sees his son regularly. Jermaine then began tweeting that he had never mentioned his father to the producers, though show bosses became suspicious and began looking into his background - which ultimately led them to his criminal history.