X Factor contestant Carolynne Poole has claimed that fellow singer Christopher Maloney verbally abused her.

Maloney, who made it to the semi-final on Saturday (December 8), did not appear on the show's final night on Sunday (December 9), citing vocal problems.

However, it had been reported online that his no-show was because he allegedly turned up drunk and was abusive.

Speaking to The Sun, Carolynne Poole - who left the show in its first week - said that Maloney verbally abused her at rehearsals for Sunday's showdown (December 9), which saw all of the 2012 finalists hit the stage, minus the Liverpudlian.

She said: "After 10 weeks the mask came off, it was like he couldn't keep it up any more. He came in and basically, because I didn't say hi and kiss his a***, he called me a ****. Everyone heard it, even Jahmene, who was upset. I said to him, 'Did you just call me a ****?'. He denied it but I heard him."

Poole added that Maloney's apparent attitude stretched to X Factor staff too, with the singer often asking the production crew to do work for him. She said:

"We were rehearsing the group song and he wouldn't even stand next to me. He came over and looked me up and down and said, 'You need to do something with that'. When you get onto 'X Factor' you go into this bubble where everything is done for you. There are people that sort everything for you, get whatever you need, basically wipe your a**e for you. These people work so bloody hard to make sure you're OK and you can't treat them like this. He was always like, 'Do this, do that, get me this'. It's just not how you treat people."

James Arthur meanwhile won the X Factor final, beating Jahmene Douglas to the crown.