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X Factor is supposed to be a fair talent contest where aspiring singers compete to become stars with the help of TV viewers.

But a Mirror probe today reveals both contestants and fans are apparently being cheated on a surprisingly wide scale by producers tampering with Auto-Tune to alter performances.

In a scandal that has rocked Britain’s favourite show, new claims have emerged singers’ voices were doctored to improve their appearances on the ITV1 show including the live finals.

Other performers are said to have been cruelly edited by technicians in the auditions to make them sound even more out of tune.

X Factor bosses have already admitted using the audio wizardry to alter performances in Saturday’s show.

But fresh allegations the TV trickery was more widespread than first thought is overshadowing the show’s opening weekend ratings of 11 million viewers and casting doubts over its integrity.

One former member of the X Factor production team said: “It was an open secret on the show that Auto-Tune was used to both make contestants slightly more on key – or off – key. On some occasions it was used to such extremes that while the contestant may have sounded like they were hitting the right note, the backing band had gone right out of tune.

“It has been used for a long time on the show both for the auditions and the live shows.

“The problem is that you have got a lot of contestants who sound equally good, so how do viewers at home make a judgement on who to pick.

“So Auto-Tune has been used to make good singers sound even better and not so good singers sound much worse.

“Obviously that would result in a much more entertaining show where some singers sounded hilariously bad, constantly missing notes, and others were amazingly polished. We all thought it wasn’t right to use that kind of equipment on a talent contest as it gave viewers a misleading view of the singers’ ability. It was a bit of a con.”

Another show source claimed that use of Auto-Tune in live finals had been “an issue” among the production team for years and that other vocal altering technologies like Melodyne had been used.

ITV and telly watchdog Ofcom got hundreds of complaints yesterday after the Auto-Tune scandal broke.

Experts said the voices of contestants Gamu Nhengu, 18, and Shirlena Johnson, 30, had clearly been tampered with on Saturday night’s show. Last night Simon Cowell, 50, jetted into the UK and ordered an immediate ban on the gizmo being used in future shows in an attempt to dampen the furore.

Cowell insisted to friends he was shocked by the claims and launched an immediate probe. A source said: “He only came back from holiday yesterday and as soon as he landed he was very busy taking lots of calls from production and ITV bosses. He said ‘the sh** has hit the fan’ and was shocked about the fans’ reaction and wanted to do something straightaway.

The whole thing just pisses me off and I'm a massive fan of the show, unless it's cut out completely they are going to lose all credibility and all their fans!!!

It's pretty obvious they used autotune in this audition....

Ye i saw that audition and was thinking the whole time that her voice was off. Definately something up with it.

And sure u can even hear the electronic-y sound coming off it!

Simon Cowell has ordered an overhaul of his British "X-Factor" TV talent show, ruling that Auto-Tune technology can no longer be used to correct singer's pitch and pledging to put viewer trust at the top of the priorities.

The new focus comes after the show was accused of using technical wizardry to mask poor performances by contestants.

Producers of the British show -- which began airing last Saturday to record audiences -- will now re-edit the upcoming audition shows, removing all voice modulation technology so that viewers hear the authentic sound of contestants.

"People have got to be able to trust 'The X-Factor' -- we are not faking anything," Cowell told the British press.

"People love this show, millions watch it every week and we absolutely respect that. We never take it for granted."

Cowell's comments come as the producers of "American Idol" said they would never use the technology.

Hundreds of fans flooded message boards after the British show aired last Saturday, complaining that contestants' voices had been altered.

But the furor has not affected ratings: the seventh series of the ITV juggernaut debut peaked at almost 12 million viewers, a million more than last year.

Ye you'd have to wonder about that last line about ratings being higher than ever! Obviously the people who watch it dont really care about talent, and are all about the drama!!

What ya reckon, ams?

Are you trying to say I'm all about drama?!

nah, never!!

but sure thats what i was askin! How come more people are watching this season, even tho they know its all fake?

One reason is that a good portion of the news between now and Christmas will revolve around the drama, talent and laughable moments on x-factor and a lot of people want to see that for themselves!