Louis Walsh's claim that a group will not win The X Factor was a bluff, his contestants have said.

The judge, who has been given the groups to mentor in the ITV1 show, said on Monday that he had the "hardest group" and that he thought someone from Simon Cowell's Over-25s group would win the show.

As groups Kandy Rain, John and Edward and Miss Frank prepared for the first of the live shows this Saturday, they stood up for Irish pop mogul Walsh.

Shar Alexandra, 25, of Miss Frank said: "Maybe he's saying that to surprise the public so everyone thinks he's not going to win and then there'll be a dramatic climax and one of us will."

Edward Grimes, 17, of John and Edward agreed, saying: "You can't just say 'I'm going to win the show' because it puts a lot of pressure on you. You set your expectations so high that your expectations are higher than the actual act."

He added that he had faith in Walsh's mentoring skills.

"The main thing about Louis is that he is a really loyal guy, he's a really nice guy and he'll always support you no matter what. He's there for all of us. I think he's a really good mentor," he said.

Alexandra said: "Look at JLS and what he did with them and they've got so big now. Rather than focus on the negative that people love to do, look at JLS."

Azi Jegbefume, 25, of Kandy Rain said she could not believe Walsh would say he did not think one of the groups would win.

The model and singer said: "We read it but we don't actually believe that Louis would say that. All of us have a really good relationship with him, he's been talking to us and stuff like that, and he does believe in us."

Shaniece Davis, 21, of Miss Frank added: "Even if he did say something like that, that would fuel the fire to make us want to come out on top".

Jegbefume also played down the saucy factor of her group, who met while working in a London lapdance club.

She said: "We're just four normal girls who naturally have sex appeal. We dress like everyone else, there's nothing raunchy about Kandy Rain.

"What we wear on stage we wouldn't necessarily wear walking down the street. People need to know that there are two sides of our persona."

The groups said they had not seen Walsh since their trip to Italy, where they were selected for the live finals. Cowell's group and Cheryl Cole's group had not seen their mentors since the trips abroad either.

But Dannii Minogue paid a visit to the contestants' house for one of her group's birthday, leading the three girls to conclude that she was "the best".

Lucie Jones, 18, said: "We've got the best mentor, everyone wants Dannii, she's the best."

Stacey Solomons, 20, who was chosen as a finalist by Minogue while the girls were out in Dubai, said: "When people saw Dubai they were jealous but in a nice way, they were happy for us."

They denied they felt pressure to win the show, after the recent successes of Alexandra Burke and Leona Lewis.

Rachel Adedejim, 17, said: "The two girls who won previous have been completely different to us, so I don't feel under pressure."

Solomon added: "You don't have time to think much about things like that, you're just thinking about how you can do well you don't think about the other winners."

Jamie Archer, 33, is part of Cowell's Over-25s group, which this year is made up of three men.

He said he thought it was about time a man won the competition.

He said: "I think it's time for the boys to stand up on The X Factor and it would be nice to mix it up because the girls have been having a good time recently, deservedly so, but I think it might be a boy this year."

The three boys, mentored by Girls Aloud star Cole - who won last year mentoring Burke, stood up for Cole who has said she will not be as emotionally attached to this year's contestants.

Lloyd Daniels, 16, said: "I think it's the fact that it's the boys. She said to us that she'd never worked with boys before and she's used to working with girls as she's in Girls Aloud."

Ricky Loney, 21, said: "She's busy with her own stuff but she is a great mentor and she really cares for our acts."

The X Factor is on Saturday on ITV1 at 8pm.