THE father of X Factor contestant Laura White has hit back at claims she has previously had a contract with a record company.

Laura, aged 21, who was one of 185,000 hopefuls to enter the competition, made it to the final 24 at the weekend, breezing through the second audition phase and into boot camp.

She is now under judge Cheryl Cole’s wing and will perform for her in Cannes, France, before the final contestants are chosen.

There have been rumours about Laura’s success before she entered the show.

Her father, Adrian White, aged 50, said: “There have been stories saying Laura had had a recording contract with Matt Aitken from Stock, Aitken, and Waterman and that she had been mentored by him and had recorded two singles that had subsequently flopped.

“It was nothing on the scale that has been portrayed at all.

“Laura did make three visits to Matt’s studio in Buckinghamshire, when she was 16 or 17, working on an old cover from the 1960s.”

Before the single was recorded, Matt was approached by his two previous partners with an offer to collaborate with them again.

Mr White said: “Laura was put on hold before she had even got close to recording one song and eventually the contract was left to expire.

“There were absolutely no flopped singles, no record companies involved and no mentoring from Matt Aitken.”

Laura, of Atherton, will be appearing in the next stage of the competition on ITV1 on Saturday, from 7.45pm.