A tearful Cheryl Fernandez-Versini embraced Amy Connelly after the mother-of-two lost out on her chance of X Factor fame for the second time.

The former Girls Aloud star took to the stage at Wembley Arena to comfort t he 24-year-old betting shop assistant from Essex telling her: "I'm proud of you, please don't cry".

The pair wept when the other three judges rejected Amy after h er performance of Whitney Houston's Greatest Love Of All was not enough to sway Simon Cowell, Mel B and Louis Walsh with the Irishman telling her: "I thought it was karaoke ".

Simon also voted no, telling her: "This is when you become exposed Amy, being on this big stage with a big song like that".

Amy returned to the hit ITV show this year in a bid to re-start her career after she lost out at the Judges' Houses stage in 2008.

More successful acts included Essex teenager James Graham who wowed the judges with take on Adele's version on I Can't Make You Love Me and boyfriend and girlfriend duo The Courtesans who Simon branded "fantastically nuts".