Inside Cowell's Camp X-Ray
EXCLUSIVE: INSIDE COWELL'S CAMP X RAY
By Louise Ford
Louise.Ford@Sundaymirror.Co.Uk
A shellshocked 79-year-old has revealed how contestants at Simon Cowell's X Factor boot camp were bullied and subjected to hours of "mental torture".
On TV the show's judges promise pop wannabes a fun-packed experience as they chase dreams of stardom.
But now furious contestants - including pensioner Dr Joy Philippou - have broken the show's code of silence to reveal the true story of life behind the scenes.
They told how tempers became so stretched at the hotel where ITV put up its 250 hopefuls that one furious woman broke into Simon Cowell's suite to complain.
The angry mum of a 14-year-old girl Cowell had reduced to tears burst into his room at Heythrop Park Hotel in Oxfordshire and confronted the terrified judge and producer - who promptly locked himself in the bathroom.
Now the Sunday Mirror can reveal further astonishing secrets from inside the X Factor boot camp where:
Fifty black-shirted "prefects" patrol the hotel barking orders at frightened contestants.
Hopefuls staged a protest after being denied food and drinks and being banned from using the toilet or going outside for hours.
Joy feared she would suffer a heart attack when she and the others were deliberately woken at 3am after just two hours sleep.
We can also reveal how the show's 24 finalists had already been "chosen" before boot camp started. And Joy tells how she is convinced the judges have already picked the person they want to win.
Last night Joy, who got through to boot camp with her impersonations of musical instruments, said: "It was absolutely horrific.
"It was physical and mental torture and everyone was acting on Cowell's orders. We called him the Fuhrer."
While the contestants suffered Simon and the show's fellow judges - Dannii Minogue, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh - were snug in their £360-a-night suites enjoying lavish meals shipped in from a village pub.
Joy and several other contestants are so angry about it all they have decided to speak out.
At one point an angry mother evaded security and stormed into Cowell's room. As she hurled abuse at Cowell for rejecting her daughter, TV's "Mr Nasty" cowered in his en-suite bathroom from where he phoned for help. Joy said: "The girl's mum was livid because her daughter had been treated so badly, and was in tears. She found out where his room was, probably by following him."
Afterwards she told the other contestants and their families about the bust-up. "Simon was cowering," she said. "He should be called 'Simon Coward' instead of Simon Cowell."
Another contestant, mum-of-two Andrea Ryder added: "This mum caused a real commotion - Cowell was really shaken up."
The boot camp week in August - which will be screened next week - started badly for contestants.
Joy and her fellow hopefuls were forced to wait outside the hotel in the cold for four hours - from 7pm to 11pm - on their first night. "It was for no reason other than to prove they could - it was mental bullying," said Joy, an academic who has lectured in philosophy and written 16 self-help books.
The 250 tired and hungry contestants were eventually herded into a hall for two hours while the "prefects" read a list of rules.
Wannabes were banned from taking photos and couldn't make mobile phone calls. Everyone was forced to wear the same clothes every day and no one was allowed to leave the grounds.
Joy, who was born to Russian and Spanish parents and lived in hiding in Cyprus during the Second World War, said: "I asked if it is supposed to feel like a concentration camp and was told it is an endurance test. But I'm almost 80.
"On that first night it was freezing and everyone was shivering. They insisted on silence and as we waited, Cowell came out with his arms folded. He looked like the Fuhrer surveying his troops. Then they herded us into a huge holding hall until 1am, supposedly so we didn't disturb filming."
Exhausted Joy was finally allowed to go to her room where she fell asleep instantly - only to be woken two hours later. She said: "At 3am I was woken by this loud bang, crashing against my door. I am 79 and could have had a heart attack. Someone had pinned a large sheet of paper on the door for me to write my name on. I followed the order and went back to bed, only to be woken again at 6am for breakfast."
An hour later all the hopefuls were herded back into the hall where they stayed for most of the next 16 hours, until 11pm.
They were told not to talk, were banned from going to the toilet and were not given anything to eat or drink.
Joy, a diabetic, said: "I kept asking when lunch was. The prefects just kept saying, 'No talking, no talking'. They were like Nazi guards. Everyone was terrified of breaking the rules because they knew they would be out if they did. It was mental torture."
She added: "At 2pm I asked if I could go to the toilet and was told 'No'. So I walked to the front and pretended I was going to go on the carpet. It was only then that I was allowed to go - but accompanied by a prefect."
During the day, one contestant fainted, three men broke down in tears and another had a nose bleed. Joy said: "They wanted us to suffer as much as possible. I told them about my diabetes but they ignored me. I felt dizzy but survived."
Then, just before their auditions at 4pm, the singers were given a half-litre bottle of water each - their first refreshment of the day - before being led outside in groups of six.
Joy said: "As we came out Cowell was there with a huge smirk on his face. He loved the power."
Joy sang a Harry Secombe serenade to her over-25s group leader Louis Walsh. "I didn't sing, I croaked," she said. "I'd had had no food and very little water. I knew I was out as soon as I had finished."
Fellow contestant, mum-of-eight Kim Marrero, 34. was so upset with the horrific conditions she walked out on the second day. She said: "I was told I couldn't use the toilet because it didn't fit in with the filming timetable. After two hours I was so desperate to go and just stormed out.
"They day before they didn't provide lunch because they said they had too much to squeeze in. So we waited around in one room for 16 hours, hungry and thirsty. There were crates of water and I asked if I could have a bottle but they told me it was for staff."
The contestants to how they were forced to sleep in cramped conditions - some of them sharing with complete strangers. Food was bread and butter, tea and juice, and giant vats of lasagna and chilli.
Fifteen-YEAR-OLD Matthew Crane, who was with dad Mark, said: "Our bedroom was grotty and the food was like prison slop."
Former charity worker and single mum Natasha Benjamin, 29, said: "I don't think we got a fair deal. We were kept in one room for about 16 hours. We didn't have lunch and when I asked to go to the loo I wasn't allowed out. We were all really hungry, and all I could think about was eating, a biscuit, anything...
"It was very regimental - like jail. I felt faint several times, I was so week. I told staff and all they said was to hold on."
Joy is also convinced the show is a fix, saying she and other wannabes knew who the 24 finalists would be. She claims staff gave special treatment to "chosen" contestants, and pulled them aside for secret meetings. One finalist, a friend of a producer, even boasted he was through before the official announcement - and knew who the others were.
After three days, contestants were led outside in groups of six in the dead of night. Joy was told then that she wouldn't be going any further in the competition.
"I went out with five others at 1.30am," she says. "The judges were there and we looked like we were heading for the execution chamber. They said, 'We have decided ...' then left a big gap before saying, 'No'.
"I was not surprised and was relieved in a way, but as soon as I got home I was furious at the way I had been treated."
An ITV spokesman said: "We are upset to hear some contestants didn't enjoy their time at boot camp. It is a long filming process which can be stressful, but we work hard to ensure that all their needs are met and they are kept as comfortable as possible. This is a process that all contestants go through, and we receive very few complaints. We believe the majority thoroughly enjoyed their experience."
Winner is..
Joy is convinced the judges have already decided who they want to win - soldier Ryan Idzi, 22, who told the judges he was singing for two pals who died in a roadside bomb in Iraq. Joy said: "They loved the fact he was a hero - but it makes the whole thing pointless."
