Ella Henderson buoyed by Cowell tweet after X Factor departure - The Independent

The 16-year-old was given the boot last night after going to "deadlock" following a surprise result which placed her in the bottom two with another favourite from the ITV1 show, James Arthur.

Show creator Simon Cowell, who is busy judging The X Factor USA in America, expressed his incredulity in an online message. He tweeted: "Ella! Gone??? Unbelievable."

Henderson, who said she has been coping well with the disappointment, revealed Cowell's recognition had helped with her self-esteem.

She told the Press Association: "Getting a tweet from Simon Cowell was incredible. That gave me a massive boost, a massive self-esteem boost this morning."

She went on: "I'm coping with it well. You never know which way that bottom two is going to swerve to.

"I think loads of people just assuming because I'm the only girl left that I'm going to get to the final. And that's not how it happens. You do actually have to pick up the phone and vote."

Judges were split over who should survive and the decision went to deadlock, meaning it went to viewer votes.

Ella has written her own songs, but did not want to perform them on the show unless she reached the final.

"I guess I can say maybe I should have performed one of my own songs sooner, and I shouldn't have held them back.

"But in a way I'm glad I didn't because I still got as far as I've got, I came sixth. And it's more exciting now because people haven't heard my original stuff, it will all be on fresh ears and I can't wait to get it out there."

She was positive she has a "bright and exciting future" and insisted she was grateful to the show for giving her the exposure, and the friendships she has taken away

She said: "The highlight for me has been meeting the other contestants and growing friendships from the show.

"I've got about four or five people who are going to be my friends for life, and I'll take that with me forever. I never thought I'd get that with a show like this."

Last night's X Factor results show saw a fightback in the ratings as it narrowed the lead held by BBC1 rival Strictly Come Dancing.

Strictly's results show was ahead by just 300,000 viewers when a week earlier the gap was 1.3 million. The BBC1 show had an average audience of 9.9 million, while X Factor had 9.6 million (including viewers on the +1 channel).

PA