THE X Factor is at the centre of a "fakery" scandal after contestants were "sent back to economy" after being filmed flying to judges' houses in business class.
The hopefuls' fellow passengers exposed the stunt on social media.
Airline Aer Lingus flew the group to California – where Simon Cowell, Ayda Field, and Robbie Williams all filmed their judges' houses scenes for this year's series.
Louis Tomlinson took his acts to Ibiza.
The Irish airline took to Twitter to share a promotional video of this year's contestants enjoying business class.
In the clip, the singers can be seen laying down for a nap in the luxury recliner chairs, and saying how much they are enjoying the flight.
It ends with the hopefuls clinking their glasses as they give a toast to Aer Lingus.
Aer Lingus captioned the clip: "It was a LOT of fun flying contestants from The #XFactor to Judges Houses" – but one eagle-eyed fellow passenger was quick to reveal that all wasn't as it seemed.
Retweeting the video, photographer Paddy McGrath wrote: "So, I just happened to be on this flight…
"When the cameras were switched off, the contestants were all sent back to economy with the rest of us. So much for that Aer Lingus hospitality."
He went on to share that the group connected to the flight in Dublin, with the scenes on-board filmed on the DUB>LAX route.
Responding to another user, Paddy also revealed that the contestants had to take turns filming in the same seats.
He wrote: "They shot the piece when we were in the air, taking turns to alternate the contestants (which is why theyre all sat in the same seats in the video)."
In a statement to the BBC, an Aer Lingus spokesman has defended the scandal – saying that the acts were simply "sampling" the business class cabins.
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They explained: "As part of Aer Lingus' partnership with X Factor, we flew contestants to perform at the judges' houses.
"The contestants were shown sampling the business class cabins.
"All footage was filmed by the X Factor production team and provided to Aer Lingus."
The Sun Online have contacted The X Factor for comment.
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