X Factor 2015 scandal: Rita Ora's backing dancers sail through to boot camp

Weeks before it returns to ITV for another series, The X Factor has already been hit with a scandal.

Simon Cowell's talent show has once again found itself at the centre of a fixing row after it emerged that Rita Ora sent her own backing dancers through to boot camp.

According to the Daily Star, identical twins Polly and Sophie Duniam, 28, performed for Ora and judges Cowell, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and fellow newcomer Nick Grimshaw.

Ora is said to have acknowledged that she knew the pair when they took to the stage during the auditions, and even joked: "This means you can't go on tour with me now," once they were given the seal of approval.

The blonde duo, who go by the name of My Bad Sister, are said to have received four 'yes' votes from the panel.

But despite the furore, show bosses insist that the act got through on their own merit and denied any wrongdoing. Sophie and Polly have toured with the RIP singer and also appeared in the video for her UK number one single, I Will Never Let You Down.

IBTimes UK has contacted The X Factor for comment and is awaiting reply.

Meanwhile, Ora is at the centre of another fix row after contestant Cory Spedding claimed that she was 'set up' by the show because of her school links to the new X Factor judge.

In a Facebook post that has since been deleted, the aspiring singer alleged that she was fast-tracked to the London auditions and made to turn down the opportunity to audition for rival series The Voice UK because producers saw an opportunity to boost ratings.

"They kept really trying to egg me on to portray that me and Rita were inseparable, that we were joined at the hip when in fact we weren't," Spedding wrote. "We were friends in school yes – as were the whole year group as there were only 20 of us in one year group so we were all very close.

"I had a laugh with her in school and she was great and such a talented girl we all knew she'd get snapped up when we left, and of course she did. I didn't wanna big up the Rita and me thing as much as they were wanting me to."

Spedding claimed that she was turned away after Songbird – the song that X Factor producers "demanded" that she sang" – failed to win over the panel.

"Absolute set up, I was set up for a fall there and then. The song they demanded I sang 'wasn't the right song to sing' even though I didn't want it as my first choice but felt made to do it, also a set up."

The X Factor 2015 begins on ITV1 in August.