A SINGER from Pontypool has crashed out of The X Factor after failing to make it through the six chair challenge stage of the show.

Russell Jones from Sebastopol did not get chosen to advance during the latest heat of the show, falling at the penultimate hurdle ahead of the live shows.

The 25-year-old added he was disappointed and took to social media to thank his fans after he left the show on Sunday, October 15.

He said: “The X Factor has been a wonderful experience.

“The six chairs challenge went wrong for me.

“It was a gruelling schedule and I felt unwell and very overwhelmed that all six chairs had been taken, and other contestants coming off the stage in distress.”

However, the Sebastopol singer reflected on his achievement at making it through to the final few on the show.

“Getting down to the last 12 boys out of 250,000 entrants I feel is an achievement,” he said.

Mr Jones’s song choice of ‘A Fool in Love’ was criticised by the judges and category judge Louis Welsh decided against putting the 25-year-old through at the expense of one of his other singers.

Since appearing on the show, Mr Jones has performed at a variety of locations around Gwent, including at his former college in Crosskeys, at Caldicot Castle for a Macmillan coffee morning and for the residents of a residential care home in Cwmbran.