14 DAY TRIAL // British audiences and the British media continue to be divided as to the latest controversial topic: X Factor producers’ refusal to axe contestant Chloe Victoria Heald, aka Chloe Mafia, from the show, amidst talk of her being an escort using the exposure to boost her rates.
The moment footage of her on stage at the X Factor auditions aired, Chloe Mafia caught the eye of the public: and it’s no wonder she did so since she was covered in fake tan, lots of makeup and very little clothes.
Paying attention to rumors that started to make the rounds after the footage aired, two News of the World undercover reporters tracked Chloe down online and got her to say on the record she was using her newfound fame to ask more money from her clients.
On a good day, the 19-year-old girl, who’s also a mother of one, now makes about £1,000 and she has X Factor to thank for, because the judges allowed her through to the next stage, the so-called boot camp round.
Even with allegations that she’s selling herself and, most importantly, using the show to boost her profile, producers are adamant that she’s to be treated just like any other contestant.
Some fans of the show are gutted about the decision – as also is the Daily Mail, which goes on a lengthy tirade to prove how producers may be using the scandal to boost ratings.
News of the World got her twice to admit that she was using X Factor to get more money for her services. Moreover, it also got her to confess she’d left the boot camp to pursue her “career choice,” when it’s a known fact contestants must stay on the premises.
While producers turn a blind eye on the scandal, saying she deserves a shot at stardom like any other girl or boy her age, Chloe is in talks with several media outlets, negotiating revealing interviews about her past.
“This week, even as the furor over the revelations about her sordid career continued to grow, she has been furiously negotiating five-figure deals with the tabloid press to reveal even more dirt about her past,” the Mail says.
“Indeed, if ever there was an individual who personifies the growing belief among the young that the pursuit of fame and money trumps everything else, then Chloe Mafia is it,” the publication says.
“As for The X Factor, it emerges from this grubby business with no credit. What sort of vetting procedures exist that she was allowed to get so far in the show?” the tab asks.
“Or does the program revel in the headlines generated by contestants such as Chloe and Shirlena Johnson (who, it was later revealed, suffered from mental health problems)?” the report goes to say.
In the end, this could amount to nothing more than a desperate – and pathetic – bid to get a boost in ratings, to the detriment of the prophesized values of the show.
“For the greater the controversy, the greater the publicity and the greater the amount of money pouring in for Cowell Inc – and, of course, the greater the clamor when Cowell and co help turn the lives of the unfortunate around,” the Mail also notes.
The official line of the producers is that, to their knowledge, Chloe denies all allegations made against her – but News of the World has videos, photos and quotes to prove the contrary.