X Factor scandal

Contestant 'devastated' following new revelations...

10:25 23 November 2010

Katie Waissel has revealed she is devastated after news broke at the weekend that her grandma is working as a prostitute.

The X Factor hopeful has vowed to go on despite the scandal, after having a long heart-to-heart with her mentor, Cheryl.

According to the Mirror, 24-year-old Katie told a friend: "Cheryl was brilliant. She gave me the strength to carry on in the competition.

"She knows how it feels to have negative attention and her advice was fantastic. I was very upset but she made me feel more confident. After speaking to Cheryl there was no way I would quit.”

The revelations about her grandmother, Sheila Vogel-Coupe, came out over the weekend as X Factor contestants performed Beatles songs.

Using a pseudonym, Katie's maternal grandma, who is 82 next month, appears on an agency website which charges clients between £150 and £250 to hire an escort.

Producers kept Katie in the dark about the news until after the show was over, before she was taken to one side and told the news.