Maloney arrives drunk to 'X Factor' final
Christopher Maloney pulled out of last night's 'X Factor' final after reportedly turning up drunk.
The former cruise ship crooner – who finished third in the competition after being voted off the ITV1 show on Saturday night – is said to have arrived at rehearsals for last night's group song "clearly drunk", sources told The Sun newspaper.
Christopher is thought to have been annoyed he only had one line to sing in the medley and was allegedly abusive to Carolynne Poole – who was voted out of the competition in the first week – as well as producers and other wannabes.
He then stormed back to his hotel before making a dramatic u-turn and arriving at Manchester Central last night to do the group song with his fellow finalists, but he was too late.
A source told the publication: “He showed up wanting to go on stage but they had to turn him away as they were already on stage and he missed the dress rehearsal.”
Christopher was said to have been livid that none of the other contestants wanted him to win the show, which was won by James Arthur.
An X Factor spokesman said: “Chris decided he no longer wanted to be part of 'The X Factor Final' and has gone back to Liverpool.”
However, the 34-year-old singer has since taken to Twitter to reveal he couldn't perform in the final because he had a "sore throat" before claiming he was the subject of a "witch hunt".
In a sensational rant on the social networking site, he wrote: "thank u @TheXFactor had a wonderful Time. An amazing experience. Love u all. Sorry I had a sore throat an doctor signed me off. Good luck x
"take no notice of crap in papers! I'm fine. It's just a final stretch of sensational headlines lol. Whatever xx we know the truth xx
"yes I am being bullied! Big time. There u go xx witch hunt xx
"thank u all so much for ur love help and support. Thinking everyone wants a final dig. Disgusting xx love u na nite xx (sic)"
Christopher - who also tweeted his congratulations to James - topped the voting for the first seven weeks of the 'X Factor' live finals, with James slumped around mid-table before triumphing in the final three weeks.
