BB FANS

thisislocallondon
By Sally-Anne Johnson

GIRL group Stiletto had their first taste of talent show fame at the weekend but the experience was soured by television's Mr Nasty himself, Simon Cowell.

Stiletto, whose members hail from Hatfield and St Albans, appeared on ITV's The X Factor on Saturday night. The trio Laura Clarry, Emily Ponte and Becky Fairclough gave it their all for the judges but struck the wrong note with Mr Cowell.

After performing their own version of The Corrs' hit Runaway, he decided only Becky was good enough to go through to the next round, telling the 21-year-old to ditch her bandmates and go it alone.

She took him up on the offer and went through to the "boot camp" stage, where the performers face even more gruelling auditions as they battle it out to reach the final.

The following day stories appeared in the media saying the split had caused a furious row. The People newspaper carried an article saying huge screaming match had broken out between the girls, resulting in them being pulled apart before it could turn violent.

But the bandmates, who have been friends for years, have denied the reports.

Emily, 25, who lives in Hatfield, said: "People have been saying that there was so much animosity between us that security guards had to break us up, but it's absolute nonsense.

"The judges obviously just liked the look of Becky and thought she should go through, which is fair enough.

"But we've had loads of good feedback from people saying they thought we should have gone through together.

"Of course it was a bit gutting that Laura and I weren't chosen for the next round, but the judges have certain criteria they want to fill. So we just wished her the best of luck and we're all still very good friends."

Fans of The X Factor can tune in on Saturday night to see how Becky gets on in the bootcamp.

HEN
23 September 2005

FORMER Stevenage Boro' legend Paul Fairclough slammed reports that X Factor's Simon Cowell sparked a row between his daughter and her childhood pals when they appeared on the hit TV show.

Now manager of Barnet FC, 'Cloughie' led Boro's most successful team to win the Vauxhall Conference league in 1996, and now his daughter Becky is heading for stardom.

On Saturday night, Paul joined the millions who watched Cowell prompt the blonde 21-year-old, who he described as a "nice" Britney Spears, to dump the other members of her group Stiletto.

TV's Mr Nasty sneered at the St Albans based group's version of the The Corrs' hit Runaway.

He said: "I like you Becky, but you've got the wrong two partners. You should come back on your own."

Becky — who is the niece of Dexy's Midnight Runners frontman Kevin Rowland — refused to come back without her pals, Emily Conte and Laura Clarry, who are both 25.

But after much heartfelt deliberation and a quick phone call to her father, Becky decided to give it a shot as it was "too good an opportunity to miss".

She re-auditioned, and was put through to boot camp by all three judges.

Reports then came in that Becky's pals were furious after she got to the finals.

One onlooker said: "They had a huge screaming match. Some guys split them up as they feared it would turn violent. Simon's caused life-long pals to fall out."

But Paul, who had a spat with then Newcastle manager Kenny Dalgleish over Boro's tiny ground during an FA Cup clash, told the Mercury: "The reports of the row are all absolute nonsense. She sees the girls on a regular basis and they are great friends. It is total media spin.

"I'm very proud of Becky, extremely proud of the way she conducted herself.

"I think she's got a future in some kind of entertainment sphere whether it is music or in TV.

"She's got a bit of charisma. But my only concern is that she's a happy girl."

Becky, who is studying psychology at the University of Hertfordshire and who performed with Stiletto at the Miss Hertfordshire competition at Pulse Nightclub on June 12, also denied the split.

She told the Mercury: "There was no row. Nothing like that happened. We are all really good friends."

And she was amazed at claims that Simon Cowell only picked her because of her looks.

She flushed: "Simon Cowell doesn't fancy me! I don't think that's true. Anyway, he's got a gorgeous girlfriend.

"There are some people who will just say that, especially if they don't get through."

Now Becky is waiting to head off to 'boot camp' in a bid to win a lucrative recording contract — and a shot at fame.

She said: "I'm waiting to find out when I go. It will be a lot of hard work.

"If I win it will be all my dreams fulfilled, but that's a long way off and I can only do the best I can."