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Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom says it is not investigating some 3,000 complaints to ITV about X Factor hopefuls John and Edward Grimes staying in the contest.

ITV, whose message boards was deluged after Sunday’s result, said the show “can divide opinion and provoke comment from our viewers”.

The Irish pair survived the sing-off with Lucie Jones after judge Simon Cowell turned to the public result.

Cowell has been criticised for not casting his vote for a second week.

‘Big stars’

Sara Nathan, showbusiness editor of the Daily Mail, told BBC 5 live: “This is why there have been 3,000 complaints to ITV.”

But she added the music mogul “was doing the right thing”.

“You have to go slightly past a singing competition and realise this is now a big reality juggernaut.

“‘Jedward’ could be fantastic. They could be really big stars,” Ms Nathan said.

Maureen Coleman, writing on The Independent’s website, asked: “Was this a Machiavellian master-stroke on the part of the most influential man in the entertainment industry?”

An Ofcom spokesman said that it launches formal investigations into complaints including the treatment of TV show contestants and flaws in voting processes, but not the outcome of programmes.

But the watchdog added that it reviews every complaint that it receives.

One complainant to ITV’s X Factor message board said of Sunday’s result: “He [Cowell] will make more money out of the twins being on the show.”

“After banging on, week in week out, about how the twins were rubbish and it was a singing competition, he threw away the chance to prove it,” said another.

Cowell has consistently criticised the twins, saying he would leave the country if they won the show.

Lucie Jones has become the fifth contestant to leave ITV1’s The X Factor, losing out following a sing-off with twins John and Edward Grimes.

The deciding vote was left with Simon Cowell, who refused to send the twins home despite previously saying he would leave the country if they won the show.

Instead, the fate of the two acts was decided by the public vote.

ITV’s X Factor message boards have been flooded with support for Jones, 18, who was a 16/1 outsider to leave the show.

One wrote that Cowell had deferred the decision because “he will make more money out of the twins being on the show”.

“After banging on, week in week out, about how the twins were rubbish and it was a talent/singing competition, he threw away the chance to prove it,” another wrote.

“Lucie sang beautifully – she should still be in. I won’t be watching anymore.”

But another said: “Simon was spot on, she was never going to win.

The pair “pull in the crowd”, they added.

John and Edward, nicknamed “Jedward”, have divided public opinion with critics saying they lack the singing ability to justify their continued presence in the competition.

On Saturday night’s movie-themed X Factor show, they sang Ghostbusters while Jones performed This Is Me, as featured on Camp Rock.

In the sing-off on Sunday night’s results show, the twins sang Robbie Williams’s Rock DJ while Jones sang Whitney Houston’s One Moment In Time.

Following those performances, the Irish double act’s mentor Louis Walsh voted to keep them in the competition.

But fellow judges Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole both wanted 18-year-old Jones to remain in the contest.

Left with the deciding vote, Cowell said: “I think, Lucie, my problem has been with you that I believe there’s a ceiling and, with John and Edward, we’ve had some horrific performances.

“Having said that, who would I rather see again? I’d probably rather see the boys.”

He added: “I’m going to let the public decide.”

After she learned of her fate, Jones, from Pentyrch near Cardiff, said: “I’m gutted but the boys deserve to be here – they work harder than anyone.”

Minogue, who mentored Jones, said: “I just wish all the good singers good luck in the singing competition.”

Cowell has previously said it would be “a complete and utter disaster” if John and Edward won the X Factor and that he was “praying” it did not happen.

But on Saturday night, he praised their Ghostbusters performance as “possibly more entertaining than anything you have done before”.

The Sunday night results show attracted the biggest X Factor audience so far this series – an average of 14.4m, according to overnight figures.

On Saturday, it attracted 11.8m viewers, compared with 8.7m for BBC One rival Strictly Come Dancing.

The two overlapped for just 15 minutes on Saturday night.

The BBC and ITV were criticised in September when the shows clashed for up to an hour, forcing some viewers to decide between the two.