X Factor rejects John and Edward Grimes reckon it was the advice from pop star Robbie Williams that kept them in the competition for so long.

The controversial Irish twins - who have become known as "Jedward" - left the show last night after a sing-off with Essex-born contestant Olly Murs.

The vocally-challenged 18-year-olds, who have split the nation with their frenetic but tuneless performances, met the former Take That star on the first week of the singing contest, where he mentored the contestants before performing his single Bodies.

"The first week - which was Robbie Williams week - that was the week that everyone told us that we didn't deserve to be in the competition but he gave us loads of encouragement and told us to 'let go'," John told the Press Association.

"We took his advice and we made it to week seven. We're grateful for his support. We're really happy that he's a fan."

Edward is thrilled that they have won over other celebrity fans, including Black Eyed Peas and Calvin Harris.

He said: "I think Britney Spears even saw our performance on YouTube. I think over the weeks, we proved who we were and we proved what we're all about. Every time we came out, we practised so hard and every day and week, we gave our all because it's all about letting go and doing your best.

"Every single week, we used to try so hard. We stayed up so late every single night making sure it was perfect."

The bequiffed siblings, mentored by fellow Irishman Louis Walsh, were expected to be voted out each week but managed to hold on to their position in the singing competition, thanks to the public vote.

John and Edward defended their high-energy performances, which even had judge Simon Cowell branding them as "Action Men dolls" on their final show.

"I think every single week, we just did what we wanted to do. We wanted to dance, we wanted to do something that was so big," said John.

"Everybody else could have had these huge productions but it's what we wanted to do. We're always up for anything, we always discussed it between each other and we always will do it - it's always our decision."

His brother added: "We were comfortable with whatever we did. We always want to do bigger and better. The other night when they told us that we did too much, we wanted to step it up the next week if we had gotten through."

The Grimes twins - who entered The X Factor to make their families and the Irish contingency "proud" - deny that they intended to chase controversy.

"We're just ourselves, we're completely different and no-one there in the competition thought we had to be a certain way. We were just ourselves. We're different and we're original because we just did our own thing," John said.

Despite facing a barrage of constant criticism, the twins, who are now backing Stacey Solomon to win, stuck together.

"You just have to be strong, like Britney Spears's song Stronger and Kanye West's Stronger," said Edward, brushing off the negative comments.

"It was nothing too bad, because no-one personally knew us. It was something we knew we could handle, but the fact is our friends and family knew we were fine and we were cool, and we were handling the whole thing very well."

They are keeping mum about what's in the pipeline career-wise after the X Factor tour, but admit they'd like to pursue a TV career and possibly even release a Christmas single.

"We'd love to do all that stuff like TV shows because we feel like we have so much more to give," said Edward.

"Our fans are so dedicated and we can't leave them standing around the place, so we need to keep supporting them so that all the Jedward memorabilia like T-shirts don't go out of date."

John continued: "It's all about moving forward in the right direction. We want to do loads of different projects. We have to reinvent ourselves - it's about doing it for all the fans and all the people who have supported us because without them, we wouldn't have done as great as we have.

"We're living our dream. We're so amazed to be on stage and we're staying focused on keeping the whole creative energy going," he added.