Fans of The Keys upset after Tulisa sends the group home

THEY were just one step away from appearing on The X Factor’s live shows but a St Albans trio failed to impress tough judge, Tulisa Contostavlos, when they sang for her in Greece.

Former St Albans School pupils, Rohan Kapoor, Nick Jackson and Dan Lipman, all aged 24, made it through boot camp as part of group The Keys, to become one of 32 acts competing at The X Factor’s judges’ houses.

Their latest performance for the hit show was shown on ITV at the weekend when they were vying to become one of 16 acts to appear in the live finals.

The Keys, which also includes Lewis Codling, 23, and Charlie Healy, 25, sang Beyonce’s Best Thing I Never Had for Tulisa and guest mentor, singer Jessie J, on Mykonos.

They were shown beforehand, in tears, saying they feared being rejected.

Tulisa described Charlie as the shining star of the group. She went on: “You do all have amazing voices, your harmonies are tight, but I do find you a bit old-fashioned and one of my biggest problems is as you perform, I’m really drawn to Charlie and it feels like a lead singer with backing vocalists.

“This is the hardest decision I have had to make, I’m so sorry but you are going home.”

In a surprise twist, though, Tulisa then asked Charlie to drop out of The Keys and join three members of another band, The Risk, explaining that keeping the initial makeup of both bands would not have resulted in choosing a potential winning group.

But the decision has not pleased all fans of The Keys with Samantha Blower posting on The X Factor fan blog: “Shame about splitting The Keys.”

On social networking site Twitter, fans also commiserated over the group’s split and departure from the show, saying that all band members were good singers.

Nick said: “It’s a shame.”