SURPRISE, surprise – there’s yet more controversy surrounding the X Factor after contestant Frankie Cocozza was kicked off for boasting about his drug use.

The 18-year-old, who has already been the subject of “fix” allegations – that have been strongly and repeatedly denied – after surviving the public vote despite his poor performances, has frequently been spotted out drinking and getting cosy with girls in car parks – as well as swearing on live TV.

But his cocky talk about cocaine use means he has broken the show’s “golden rule” and producers have had no alternative but to boot him off the programme.

Frankie’s mentor Gary Barlow is said to be “hugely disappointed” in his act.

He added: “I’m sorry to see him go as we’ve been through a lot together in such a short time.

“ I hope Frankie continues to look to me as a friend and supporter and works it all out, picks himself up and somehow tries to turn this into a positive.”

But do the rest of us really care? The general opinion on social networking sites was that Frankie was the worst singer in the competition, and should never have been put through in the first place. Many are happy to see him go.

But there’s always that niggling feeling that the public is being made a fool of – again.

We’ve already had the mixed opinions on the new judges, the Misha B/bullying row, which led to the spat between Tulisa and Kelly Rowland, and Kelly’s controversial flit back to LA where she suddenly came down with an “extremely rare” illness, that was essentially a sore throat, which saw her miss the show when two of her acts ended up in the bottom two, meaning she had to make a dramatic phone call to cast her vote live on air.

Last year it was the Gamu storyline that grabbed the headlines and had the nation in uproar after Cheryl chose mini-me Cher Lloyd and controversial Katie Waissel – who both made a hash of their judges’ houses auditions – over the public’s favourite.

Hundreds of thousands of people joined a Facebook group called ‘Gamu should have got through’.

And, of course, there was the Cheryl Cole malaria story, which served to give the X Factor acres of coverage when she was diagnosed in July, way before the show even hit our screens.

We even got sucked into the dramas of American X Factor when Cheryl was offered a judging role on the show, only to be unceremoniously dumped when it was discovered Americans apparently couldn’t understand her Geordie accent.

The show has never been without its controversy.

It begs the question, just how much of the so-called “reality” show, is actually real?

Word from auditionees is that several rounds of singing for producers are to be got through before you even get near the famous four.

Which makes it slightly uncomfortable wondering if the not-so-talented performers have been hand-picked by show bosses just to raise a laugh at the auditions stage.

But despite all the controversy, we continue to tune in in our droves – which proves the old adage that there really is no such thing as bad publicity.

Moments of drama

• Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller claimed the format was copied from his show and filed a lawsuit against X Factor producers Freemantle Media through his company 19 TV. A High Court hearing began in November 2005 but was quickly adjourned with an out-of-court settlement reached at the end of the month.

• A record number of complaints were received in December 2004 after judge Sharon Osbourne made a verbal attack on contestant Steve Brookstein in the series one finale.

• During series two Louis Walsh announced he would quit the show, claiming the other judges had been “bullying” him. The announcement was claimed to be a publicity stunt, as Walsh decided to return the following Saturday night.

• Judge Dannii Minogue broke down in tears live on air in series five when Walsh accused her of “stealing” a song for one of her acts that he wanted for one of his own.

• She faced her own backlash in series six when she commented on press reports concerning a contestant during one of the live shows.