'The X Factor' Chaos With Rihanna's Departure at Last Minute

Sat, 13 December 2008 00:01:01 ET

Rihanna's exit from 'The X Factor' television series left chaos, but her representative denied her involvement in the talent show.

Pop star Rihanna caused chaos at "The X Factor" finale as she abandoned the television show which airs Saturday, December 13 at 11th hour. Her sudden departure forced other contestants to change their celebrity partners at the same hour. A source commented about her leaving, "It's been a real mess up," while adding, "Song choices have been changed and Alexandra has had to re-work the way she performs to fit in with Beyonce."

The source also added, "Brian Friedman has had to re-choreograph the dance routines which has seen contestants in floods of tears, they are getting confused and working late into the night." The unnamed source then continued stating, "Rihanna told bosses she had to rehearse for her tour in the States and didn't have time for the X Factor, but only told them yesterday morning."

Simon Cowell, who is the format creator, judge and mentor on the U.K. series, reportedly got angry with Rihanna's exit since he failed to persuade her manager to change the singer's mind. However, the Barbados-born singer's representative denied she abandoning the talent show at the last minute saying, "She was never confirmed for the X Factor. She was only scheduled to fly in for the Jingle Bell Ball and the Royal Variety Performance and was always going to be flying back to the US today."

Rihanna was scheduled to perform her hit "Umbrella" with boyband JLS at "The X Factor". However, since she pulled out, the boyband was said to duet with Westlife. Meanwhile, finalist Alexandra Burke reportedly teamed up with Beyonce Knowles, whereas other finalist Eoghan Quigg worked together with Boyzone.

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