SHAN Ako and Bella Penfold were the two X Factor hopefuls to get the axe in tonight's results show - with Shan's shock elimination sparking a "fix" row.

The 25-year-old singer was one of the favourites to win the competition, but landed in the bottom two alongside duo Acacia and Aaliyah.

Shan's mentor, Simon Cowell, and Louis Tomlinson voted to send schoolgirls Acacia and Aaliyah home, with Nile Rodgers - who covered for Group's mentor Robbie Williams for the third week in a row - voting to send home Shan.

Fans were outraged when Robbie's wife, Ayda Field, opted to send Shan home too - taking it to deadlock.

Dermot O'Leary then revealed that Acacia and Aaliyah had the most public votes, booting Shan off the competition.

Taking to social media, viewers blasted Ayda's decision - with many accusing the star of saving the group in support of her husband, who would have been left with no acts left in the competition had the teen girls been eliminated.

One angry fan ranted: "You knew Ayda wanted to save Shan but didn’t want to send her Robbie’s act home so sent it to deadlock.

"I can tell you right NOW there is no way in hell those kids got more votes than her. I know it shouldn’t come as a shock that it’s obviously a fix."

Another fumed: "I still don’t get why Ayda and Robbie were chosen as judges. Absolutely pathetic. It was obvious Ayda didn’t want to vote against her husband's act. Shameful."

A third added: "Fix factor strikes again, however, we all know by now that very few winners make it big. This will be the making of Shan."

This is the third week of live shows that Robbie has missed due to other work commitments, with the singer currently on tour in South America.

Robbie's category has lost two acts in the weeks that he has not been on the panel, despite drafting in Chic legend Nile to keep his seat warm.

Alongside Shan, another of Simon's acts got the boot after landing the fewest public votes earlier this evening.

Bella Penfold was Si's Golden Buzzer during the six chair challenge, however, she divided the judges with last night's Big Band themed performance.

The teen performed London Grammar’s Strong, with Louis saying that he didn't think it was the right song choice for her.

Nile also criticised the performance - claiming that the Essex hotel singer struggled with some of the notes.

Ayda added that she found the performance "underwhelming".

Bella's elimination received a mixed response from viewers at home, with some claiming that the teen thought her competitor, Scarlett Lee, was going home instead.

One fan tweeted: "Bella’s face, she was consoling the other girl then her own name was read out."

Others shared: "Bella thought she was staying!"

"Bella absolutely thought Scarlett was going home there."

Meanwhile, former X Factor judge Cheryl failed to impress viewers with her much-anticipated comeback in tonight's show.

The mother-of-one was dubbed "embarrassing" and "awful" following her sexy performance of new song Love Made Me Do It, with some cruel fans even blasting her decision to sing live instead of lipsync.