Former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger has confessed that she didn't like the new twist that 'The X Factor' put on the bootcamp stage of the competition because it was "so hardcore". 

This season saw the judges have to choose who they wanted as their respective finalists on the spot and cope with the fact that there were more acts in the running that spaces available, which meant that there were live rejections on stage. Speaking to Digital Spy about the emotional pressure of the competition she explained:

"Oh my gosh, it was wretched. It was so hardcore. It was brutal. It made for great telly [though], I'm not going to lie. We were there and I was sweating. This was like the lion's den, we were throwing them out there to the wolves."

"But the reality of it is whether you guys see it on TV or not, those are the decisions we have to make. So you just get to see what goes on."

The 'Poison' beauty then added that she selected her finalists, namely Hannah Barrett, Abi Alton and Tamera Foster, based on their talents and ambition:

"I choose different talents, eclectic talents. I don't like people [in my own group] competing against each other. I think about how I would market them and work with them. I choose who will work just as hard as I am, because I'm a very hard worker."