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Half of the 12 acts that have made it through to this year's X Factor finals so far were asked to audition for the show.
Two contestants, Jahmene Douglas and duo MK1, have revealed that they were approached to take part.
Supermarket worker Douglas said he was invited to audition after a clip of him singing was seen on YouTube, and MK1 were told about it by their record company.
This is the first year that performers have been allowed to have management deals.
Show insiders said the six acts, who were "made aware" of the auditions by other people, still had to go through the same audition process.
The judges decide who goes through without knowing how the acts got into the competition.
An X Factor spokeswoman said: "All contestants have to apply and go through exactly the same process as every other act. All acts are then auditioned on their own merits and the judges, who are completely unaware of how the contestants came to audition, then decide who goes through to the live shows."
A 13th wildcard act will be added to the finalists this weekend.
