GIRL group Stiletto had their first taste of talent show fame at the weekend but the experience was soured by television's Mr Nasty himself, Simon Cowell.

Stiletto, whose members hail from Hatfield and St Albans, appeared on ITV's The X Factor on Saturday night. The trio Laura Clarry, Emily Ponte and Becky Fairclough gave it their all for the judges but struck the wrong note with Mr Cowell.

After performing their own version of The Corrs' hit Runaway, he decided only Becky was good enough to go through to the next round, telling the 21-year-old to ditch her bandmates and go it alone.

She took him up on the offer and went through to the "boot camp" stage, where the performers face even more gruelling auditions as they battle it out to reach the final.

The following day stories appeared in the media saying the split had caused a furious row. The People newspaper carried an article saying huge screaming match had broken out between the girls, resulting in them being pulled apart before it could turn violent.

But the bandmates, who have been friends for years, have denied the reports.

Emily, 25, who lives in Hatfield, said: "People have been saying that there was so much animosity between us that security guards had to break us up, but it's absolute nonsense.

"The judges obviously just liked the look of Becky and thought she should go through, which is fair enough.

"But we've had loads of good feedback from people saying they thought we should have gone through together.

"Of course it was a bit gutting that Laura and I weren't chosen for the next round, but the judges have certain criteria they want to fill. So we just wished her the best of luck and we're all still very good friends."

Fans of The X Factor can tune in on Saturday night to see how Becky gets on in the bootcamp.