rita ora
Rita Ora performs new single Anywhere on The X Factor ITV

Fans of Rita Ora – who call themselves 'Ritabots' – have come out in the singer's defence after she was criticised for wearing a skimpy outfit on The X Factor last night (5 November).

The 26-year-old pop star – who sang her new single Anywhere on the show – wore a pair of black knickers with a black top, hoodie and boots with her hair in tight curls for a Flashdance theme. But many viewers took to social media to express the inappropriateness of her outfit.

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One person claimed: "Has she forgotten to put on her pants?" while someone else said: "I thought Rita Ora was terrible on #XFactor . Her outfit was totally inappropriate for Saturday Night TV w/many kids watching! Awful outfit!"

A third added: "Rita ora outfit on xfactor is shocking she's half dressed! Or Am I just old #xfactor2017 #RitaOra #naked".

But many of the singer's fans were quick to stick up for the Hot Right Now hitmaker, with one person tweeting: "The intense slut shaming of Rita Ora and her outfit is ridiculous. Y'all acting like u don't see things like that in music vids all the time".

Another said: "@RitaOra can you wear the same outfit at the @mtvema so the haters can see you again on that outfit".

Somone else put: "Loved @RitaOra's #Xfactor perfomance, also loved her hair & outfit!!, she slayed as always!".

Ora appeared to completely ignore the criticism, taking to her Instagram profile to share some gorgeous snaps of herself performing on the show.

She told her 12.2m followers: "Anywhere live tonight! Available everywhere now! Link is in my bio!!Thank you X-Factor! #Anywhere I had sooooooo much fun!! #littlebittie".

This week's X Factor saw two acts eliminated – Tracey Leanne Jefford and Leon Mallett.

Mallet from the boys category was an especially shocking departure, who was initially very popular as a Wild Card. He failed to impress the public with his rendition of Daft Punk's Get Lucky – which he admitted he was unsure about singing for Latin week.

One annoyed viewer tweeted: "Get lucky not in with this weeks [theme] at all? Washing over the culture. #xfactor."