Natalia Kills and Willy Moon have suggested they were prompted to play mean before they gave a contestant an historic dressing-down on X Factor New Zealand. And both now admit the situation got out of hand.
The married couple, who were sacked for their part in a mean-spirited critique of contestant Joe Irvine's performance, have issued statements from their Twitter accounts to try to fill-in the backstory.
Kills tweeted her statement with the caption, "at last! I am relieved that I'm finally able to break the silence". Her message notes, "a lot goes on behind the scenes of a reality TV show and you see isn't always the whole story. The show brought me on to bring my passion, dramatic expression and perspective. I was encouraged to be outspoken and things got out of hand." She also offered an olive branch to the shamed contestant. "Joe," she writes, "I hope you can forgive me and I wish you all the best! Be natural, unconventional and be you!"