Britain's Got Talent finalists Loveable Rogues have revealed that they were asked to appear on the programme by producers.
The threesome - Eddie Brett, Sonny Jay and Té Eugene - are now facing claims of a fix because they didn't have to go through the full audition process.
'We did get approached by the show,' says Eddie.
'We never really thought about doing shows like this, but obviously an opportunity came along and it would be silly not to.'
The group skipped the production auditions - where hopefuls are
whittled down before appearing in front of the panel - and managed to
avoid queueing for hours.
They only agreed to take part after bosses agreed to let them sing their own songs.
'The audition in front of the judges was the first we'd done,' says Sonny.
But BGT insists Loveable Rogues' route onto the show was 'normal'.
'We let people know about auditions in lots of ways, from ads in local papers to flyers distributed at festivals,' a spokesman for Simon Cowell's show tells the Daily Mirror.
'As part of this normal process, we may inform some acts about the auditions.
'All acts are auditioned on their own merits and the judges then decide who goes through to the live shows.'
WATCH Loveable Rogues' semi-final performance below...
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Esme Riley
