Unbeknownst to the public at first, Chloe Heald wasn't just a young singing sensation - she was an alleged prostitute with a rap sheet charting 140 arrests for minor offenses. Chloe Mafia (as she likes to be known) was promptly 'exposed as a £160 an hour call girl' by the tabloids, putting her chances on the show in jeapordy.
But then...Simon Cowell weighed in with his argument that "We haven't banned prostitutes. If a person applies to the X Factor it's obvious they want to do something better with their life."
Even though Mafia is now boasting that she can now afford to charge £250 an hour and anti-prostitution groups have argued that her glossy appearance on the show is glamourising the sex trade, this bad press has given the teenage single mother a massive boost in the popularity stakes.
Only time will tell which way the votes will fall.