MANY THOUGHT SHE SHOULDN’T have made it through to the second round after her bizarre performance – but now X Factor producers have decided to cut singer Shirlena Johnson from the programme over fears for her mental health.

Questions were raised about Johnson’s mental wellbeing after it was revealed she had lied about her age for entering the Miss Great Britain contest, which permits contestants aged 28 or younger only.

Organisers of the Miss GB contest only learned her true age when she introduced herself as a 30-year-old on the show. She had told them she was 28.



As a result, questions were raised over Johnson’s mental health were she to make it through the next Boot Camp stage of the show and onto the intense Judges’ Houses phase.

A spokesman for the show said the “welfare of contestants is of paramount importance, and for this reason, it has been agreed that Shirlena Johnson should not continue in the competition.”

The show’s makers have been particularly cautious about the welfare of their acts since Susan Boyle, who rose to overnight fame after her appearance on Britain’s Got Talent, had a series of mental breakdowns.

Contestants are usually asked to provide a report from their GP regarding their mental wellbeing before the Judges’ Houses stage, as a precaution to ensure that contestants who qualify for the live TV finals are able to stand the intense public pressure under which they come.

It is believed that in Johnson’s case the GP report arrived relatively late, and producers immediately stepped in when concerns were expressed over her ability to handle the experience.