X Factor Mary caught up in Tesco vote 'fix'

By Patrick McLennan
( What's on TV )
published

X Factor Mary caught up in Tesco vote 'fix'
X Factor Mary caught up in Tesco vote 'fix'

The X Factor finalist Mary Byrne is battling a 'fix' row after Tesco bosses have been rallying support for their employee to win the show. According to The Mirror the supermarket bosses have been bombarding their 30,000 workers with emails and reminders to 'Vote Mary' - who works on the checkouts of a Dublin branch. A TV advert promoting Mary was also screened in Ireland during the weekend's shows on the TV3 channel saying, 'We're behind Mary', just as viewers were preparing to vote. Fans of the talent show have complained that the advert has given Mary unfair advantage and no other contestant has received this level of support. X Factor bosses have declined to comment, but TV3 said the advert did not break any rules while a Tesco spokesman said: "We are fully supportive of Mary and so are her friends and colleagues at Tesco, but as to how anyone votes, that is up to them." If you missed Mary's first live show performance watch it below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNIooNjJbuE&fs=1&hl=en_GB

Patrick McLennan
Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.