X Factor Fav Drops Out After Securing Seat in Six Chair Challenge

Anyone who has been watching X Factor in recent weeks will know of the torture of the six chair challenge, which sees contestants battle it out for a place in their mentor's final six, but not without a bit of a chair hopping and some broken hearts first.

One of this year's favourites Tom Bleasby had just managed to secure his place in Nick Grimshaw's final six at the weekend, and even though Nick later replaced him, the audience demanded his return and Grimshaw obliged.

It seems it all has got too much for 19-year-old Tom though who has now withdrawn from the competition. In a statement, The X Factor said last night: "We can confirm that Tom Bleasby has chosen to withdraw from the competition due to personal reasons."

While Bleasby said; "It was a tough decision, I think I really discovered it at the six chair challenge. I just don't know if I felt vocally ready to take on the competition and the pressure."

He added: "I'm quite a relatively new singer, back in March, I was singing in my bedroom, so I've never took to live performing very well. I'm still discovering myself and in the competition, there are some amazing singers and I feel like I need more time to get better myself, as I don't feel like I'm strong enough."

Bleasby continued: "Moving forward, without being 100%, would have been selfish on my part because I would have stopped someone else who was at 100% vocally from going further in the competition. Hopefully given time, I could get there with more time to grow artistically and vocally."

While he also praised his mentor saying; "Nick was incredible, he was so supportive and for him to give me a chair was a huge boost of faith.

"It was just an amazing feeling, but I was still having doubts about myself and I didn't want to be in the competition when I was having those doubts because I would have just sunk. Nick is a fantastic mentor and I really want to thank him for all his support."

It hasn't been announced yet who will replace Tom in the boys category or how the X Factor will proceed, but it's expected to be revealed soon.