Teenage TV talent contestant ordered out of UK

[October 07, 2010]  LONDON (AP) -- A teenage TV talent contestant has been ordered to leave Britain, days after she was kicked off Britain's popular "X Factor" show.

The Home Office said Wednesday that it had ordered 18-year-old Gamu Nhengu and her mother Nokuthula Ngazan to return to their native Zimbabwe because the pair don't meet the requirements to stay in Britain.

Nhengu, whose mother was on a student visa, was one of several amateur singers vying to win the top spot on the show, part of Simon Cowell's international X Factor franchise. But she was axed by judge Cheryl Cole in Sunday's show, prompting an outpouring of anger from fans, some of whom alleged racial bias.

The show's producers deny that the singer's race or immigration status played any role in the decision to oust her.

[Associated Press]

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