Austin Drage: 'Cheryl got it wrong'

Former X Factor star Austin Drage has claimed that Cheryl Cole made a mistake when picking her finalists this year.

The Girls Aloud singer recently chose Lloyd Daniels, Joseph McElderry and Rikki Loney to represent her in the live shows.

However, in an interview with Live From Studio Five, last year's competitor Drage suggested that Cole should not have turned away Duane Lamonte at the judges' houses stage.

He commented: "I think Cheryl got it wrong, didn't she? I was a Duane fan."

Drage continued: "I thought what Duane did was really current. He did Ne-Yo, he had that whole soul thing going on. It really killed him, didn't it?

"I know Duane and Rikki quite well personally, and Duane's got such a great vocal. Rikki's got a good voice as well and they both want it badly, but it's really hurt Duane."

The 23-year-old singer also criticised Cole for walking away from hopeful Daniel Fox because she could not decide whether to put him through.

He said: "I think they had plenty of time to decide yes or no. If you don't know after a day, you're not going to know after that next five minutes."