X Factor judge Dannii Minogue has been left red-faced after a joke she made to contestant Danyl Johnson caused a public backlash.
Angry viewers have inundated media watchdog Ofcom with complaints after the veteran Aussie pop star made comments about the 27-year-old teacher following his rendition of Jennifer Hudson's 'And I'm Telling You' on the hit ITV show last Saturday.
During the performance Johnson changed the lyrics as if he was singing to a woman, which prompted Minogue, 38, to say: "If we're to believe what we read in the papers, there was no need to switch the gender reference in that song."
Fellow judge Simon Cowell asked her to repeat what she had said whilst a stunned audience looked on.
Minogue was referring to an interview given by Danyl earlier that week in which he revealed that he was bisexual.
Today she has released a statement on her official website apologising for the comments.
She said: "I made a comment about Danyl changing the lyrics of his song.
"It was meant to be a humorous moment about the fact he had an opportunity to have fun with his song, an openly bisexual guy singing a song that is lyrically a "girl's song".
"Danyl and I were joking about the very same thing in rehearsals on Friday, so it carried on to the show."
alter, NewYork, New York around 10 months, 3 weeks ago