Twins: 'We just want people to love us'

X Factor hopefuls John & Edward have admitted that the negative criticism they receive has hurt them.

The twins told The Mirror that they have been sent hate mail and have had trouble sleeping. The duo also stated that they spend all their time practising for their performances on the show.

"We only stop practising to eat and sleep," Edward said. "The other acts go out on their days off but we're the only ones who never go out of the house. There's no point sitting around when we could be practising.

"We never watch telly. We get up at 7am to start and work through until 7pm. Then we have dinner and go through it again."

However, the pair revealed that they are struggling to deal with the negative feedback.

"We get hate mail and vicious letters," they continued. "Some of the hate mail is so bad X Factor hasn't let us see it. It's hard when we have to go out and perform and be happy and confident and smiley because we know if we slip up they'll come after us."

John added: "I haven't been sleeping for the last two or three nights. Websites say, 'John and Edward are s**t'. I get so upset by it I can't sleep. It goes round and round in my head.

"We were in the street walking to our dance class when a whole family came past in a black car and shouted out, 'We hate you, you're w**kers'. Edward was very shaken and upset. I had to calm him down and tell him not to think about it.

"All we want is for people to love us. It hurts us and our family."

The X Factor results show airs tomorrow at 8pm on ITV1.