EXCLUSIVE X FACTOR HOPEFUL SUZIE SLAMS JUDGE

X Factor hopeful Suzie Furlonger has hit out at Dannii Minogue for ignoring contestants she was supposed to be mentoring.

Suzie says she was one of six in the Over-25s group who spent three days rehearsing and filming in the south of France but saw Dannii for only 45 minutes.

She says she got NO coaching or guidance from Dannii or from "guest mentor" Emma Bunton.

Suzie, 26, said: "We hardly saw them at all. Danni spent less than an hour in total with us during three long days. Emma spent even less."

The Over-25s group - Suzie plus Daniel Evans, Louise Heatly, Rachel Hylton, Ruth Lorenzo and James Williams - thought they were in for the experience of a lifetime after they made it through Boot Camp to the final 24 and were told to pack their cases for St Tropez.

They weren't told which judge would be overseeing them until they got there. Suzie, from London, said: "I was hoping to get Simon Cowell because it's his show and his record label. You know he can do the most for your career. But when Dannii came out, I was really pleased. And when we met Emma too we all thought we'd done really well."

But their initial enthusiasm soon wore off when it became clear that Dannii and Emma seemed to have better things to do than hang out with contestants. They were also disappointed that they weren't staying at a palatial French villa with Dannii. Suzie said: "We were put up in a hotel an hour's drive from St Tropez. The crew woke us up at five every morning and we didn't get back until after 10 at night. The hotel was nowhere near a town so we didn't get one night out. We didn't go into St Tropez once and there was certainly no shopping or sunbathing. I knew it wasn't going to be a holiday. But I wasn't prepared for the amount of work we did. We sat in the blazing sun doing interviews to the camera. If you weren't doing an interview, you were waiting to do one. It was relentless."

Suzie - who performed One Day I'll Fly Away by Randy Crawford and How Do I Live by Leann Rimes - said: "A lot of people assumed we were going to get expert coaching from Dannii and Emma.

"But there was none. Dannii only appeared three times. She first came out on the second day when she was revealed as our judge. That took about 15 minutes.

"Then we performed for her, which took a few minutes each.

"The next day she came back to deliver her verdicts. But even that took less than half an hour.

"She was nice when she was around. But we didn't get to know her at all."

Tonight viewers see the climax of the trip - when Dannii announces her choice of the final three Over-25s who will go through to the live stages of X Factor.

Looks like she hasn't made the final 12? Would she do that if she had?

oh who cares. ALL this negative jibes about Dannii is making her stronger, I dont understand why everyone dislikes her. Yes shes had botox, a boob job, the whole shabang, but shes also a sucessful judge!

get real you only get mentored if you make it to the live shows.

Tbh, I never thought they got expert coaching at this stage?

And most of that is the producers making them work hard as oppose to Dannii (who was probably being put to work by them doing her own interviews).

Exactly.

I'm glad this has came out though, makes it more likely for

I wasn't aware it was a social event. Did Susie think Dannii would take them all out on the town or something?

She isn't supposed to be "coaching" you yet Suze, you're at an audition!

Not surprised.

This was said last year about Dannii, too.

Did you even read the article?

It explains why the contestants all looked uncomfortably hot and sweaty whilst Dannii and Emma appeared cool and fresh.

By the live shows though apparently she was the most hardworking - spent the most time with her contestants, arrived first/left last and so on. Might just be how she works.

what did they think they were going to drink cocktails by the pool with dannii and emma and that they would take them on a tour of the nightclubs there.the reason it would be is so they can practice there songs to sing to the judges.

Exactly .. it kind of shows what some of these people are in it for. Last night the girl who kept forgetting her words in the young girl's group and lay on the ground crying said something about her working in a posh celeb restaurant and that she would like to be one of the celebs rather than the staff.

So is she saying that she's not in it for her love of singing, just for the celeb lifestyle?

Also Susie says that she wasn't prepared for the hardwork they had to do .... If she want's to make it to the live shows and to have a career in the music industry she had better be prepared to work a heck of a lot harder than a three day audition in St Tropez.

I agree with others who have said that any coaching or mentoring should really start at the live show stage .. at the moment the mentors are trying to pick their top three so it's up to the five people to impress them without needing any coaching.

Exactly. I am sick of all the negativity. Why is it always her who gets it?:yawn:

suzie = bitter much?

IF, and I emphasise the word IF, this is true, then its such a shame because Dannii was a fantastic mentor last year to the boys, and still speaks to and supports them all

Sour grapes 'cause she didn't get through :yawn:

..but isn't she the girl that was in the 411? She ought to be prepared to work and understand the process. It irks me that they have never mentioned that once, and keep referring to her as an admin clerk, or something.

Well that confirms she hasn't made top 12.

I don't know what she expected to be honest. They only get mentored when the judges choose the final three.

I dont understand the X Factor, I was under the impression that it was looking for new talent to sign. Susie Furlonger was in a girl group The 411 and had an album and a few singles that charted, therfore it must means she already had signed a record contract, why hasnt anyone picked this up?

Susie Who?????

Exactly..... it's far better to keep something like that professional anyway. Dannii's not her pal, or anyone else's..... she's there to do a job..... Suzie was there to audition..... end of story.

I don't like the negativity over Dannii either. Why?

Neither did I I just saw it as bootcamp in the sun.

What Suzie has described is exactly what's shown on the programme and exactly how I've always thought it was at that stage...I don't know what she expected. I'm sure it's the same for all four categories at the Judges House stage.