The latest episode of X Factor USA was a night of high drama and hormones as Jason Brock narrowly lost out to CeCe Frey as the judges called deadlock on evictions and UK boy band One Direction entertained the masses with not one but two performances. And CeCe somehow got off scott-free, despite seemingly being universally despised. We guess Brock had a bigger circle of family and friends voting for him..?

As he said goodbye to the land of the TV singing contest, Jason Brock, somewhat bizarrely, said “I did it for the gays. And Japan.” Um, OK. As Khloe Kardashian asked him how he was feeling, upon learning that his journey to stardom had come to an abrupt end, Jason uttered his reply, before adding “I’m really happy to have been here.” Mentor La Reid hopped onto the stage to give him a farewell hug, with Khloe offering an encouraging “hug it out, hug it out,” behind them. Reid’s summary of Jason’s time on the show was full of tell-tale platitudes, such as “every time he sang, he sang from the heart, he’s very entertaining, I really loved working with you.” Which is all X Factor speak for “thank goodness, he’s gone,” of course.

Luckily, for any viewers needing a little light relief, after watching the painful Jason Brock highlight reel, One Direction were on hand to perform ‘Live While We’re Young,’ and 'Little Things.' A hormone-fuelled reminder that success stories do come from the X Factor process. 

Watch One Direction perfoming live