The X Factor's Thursday night episode, which marked the second broadcast of the series' special two-night premiere, apparently featured even more of an uncomfortable exchange between the judges and contestant Don Philip than viewers got to see.
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Philip, who came across as judge Britney Spears' biggest fan and reminisced about the time he sang a duet with her over 10 years ago, appeared to be in utter distress before, during and after his The X Factor audition for largely unexplained reasons.
"I think they were scared I was going to kill myself," Philip told The New York Post.
According to Philip, The X Factor judges Spears, Demi Lovato, Simon Cowell and L.A. Reid pressured him into revealing that he was gay -- which Philip believed he had told the show's producers in confidence prior to his audition -- while he was onstage auditioning.
"After that thing, I went home and had thoughts of [suicide]. I was so destroyed that they set me up," Philip told The Post, further elaborating on how the incident played out during his audition at the show's San Francisco auditions.
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"When I got onstage, [the judges] chimed in saying, 'What is your secret?'" Philip explained. "I knew immediately what they were talking about. I only had one secret."
Philip reportedly freaked Spears out when he then turned the conversation into a very personal matter between the two them.
"[I told her] 'I didn't think you thought it was okay that I am gay,'" Philip said, adding that Spears then replied, "I think it is fine that you are gay."
At that moment, according to The Post, Philip began crying onstage.
"I never thought I would see you again," Philip told Spears in a scene that was actually edited into the episode and then followed by his performance in which his voice allegedly "froze."
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Once the judges unanimously decided to send Philip home, he fell to his knees backstage and said, "I think I have hurt [Spears]."