Outrage over X Factor Showing Audition of Possibly Mentally Ill Ceri Rees

X Factor is no stranger to controversy and, least of all, to talk of its exploitative nature. Ceri Rees, a contestant who auditioned for the show three times before came back for another one – and producer made sure they gave her audition more than 7 minutes of airtime.

As the Daily Mail points out, this is exactly a sixth of the running time of the entire show, which is confirmation that producers deliberately set out to exploit her for laughs.

Consequently, there’s a lot of talk about how they’d do anything for ratings, including showing a woman who has “obvious” mental issues, celebrities in the UK and local media outlets have already pointed out.

“Uncomfy to watch ceri on x factor – she’s a poor wee soul,” ITV presenter Lorraine Kelly tweeted after the audition aired, the Daily Record informs.

Singer Lily Allen, now Cooper, is of the same opinion, saying producers have no right to expose someone as unstable as Ceri appears to be to public ridicule.

“they shouldn’t have aired that audition, she’s clearly ill,” Lily wrote on her Twitter page.

“loads agree that last two acts on X Factor last night should never have been featured, certainly at such cruel length. Bad end to show,” Richard Madeley also wrote.

The audition, which you can view in full below, at the end of the article, sees Ceri explaining why she’s come back for the fourth time on the show: she believes Simon Cowell was the only reason she never made it to boot camp and wants to get judges to let her through now that he’s gone.

Her audition is painful to watch because she obviously can’t sing – but the judges don’t cut her off and just let her struggle. They even offer her a second chance with a song from Whitney Houston no less.

Moreover, while Ceri is waiting for the judges’ appraisal, producers added the music from “Jaws,” which, again, was deemed disrespectful and humiliating by viewers at home.

Several organizations in the UK have already voiced their concerns over the incident, saying this too is a form of bullying and should not be condoned.

Producers, on the other hand, are adamant they did nothing wrong: Ceri is not mentally ill, they say.

“The welfare of contestants is of paramount importance. We have psychologists to provide expert opinion if we have any specific concerns, or if the contestant raises any issues,” a spokesperson for the show said.