The gruelling six-chair challenge has always been a controversial more recent element of The X Factor. 

And now viewers are asking what the point of it is – given that on last night's show three of the four wildcards made it through to next week's live finals.

These contestants would not have been picked by their current mentors – Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne, Louis Walsh or Nicole Scherzinger.

However, they were given a wildcard pass by a rival judge – gifting them an invaluable second-chance stab at stardom. 

On last night's airing, stunned viewers witnesses Simon putting through Samantha Lavery, 16, while Nicole gave Ryan Lawrie, 20, the nod. And Sharon happily endorsed Saara Aalto, 29.

In the aftermath, fans took to social media to express their frustrations: "SO F@@king predictable!!" wrote one, adding: "That's 3 Wild Card acts gone through so far. If they were that good, why didn't they give them a chair?"

Viewers seemed particularly irked by the inclusion of Honey G – yet another last-minute draft – in next week's live finals stage of the contest. 

The rapper performed her own version of Gangsters Paradise by Coolio – but the rendition received a mixed response from those watching at home.

Furthermore, to add to the controversy, Honey G got through seemingly at the expense of the talented Samantha Atkinson. Indeed, Samantha's outraged cousin later kicked-off a petition to have her reinstated.

The online campaign has now garnered some 3,000 signatures.