‘The X Factor’ UK: Was Union J’s performance of ‘Beautiful Life’ cut during ‘Xtra Factor’?

Union J is not even a part of “The X Factor” UK this season, but they are still facing almost as much controversy as though they were. The boy band, who has gone from being a hard-working group with Louis Walsh last year to successful artists in 2013, got an opportunity to perform on “The Xtra Factor” tonight. This in turn angered many of their own diehard fans, mostly because they felt as though they should have been on the proper live show over another boy band in The Wanted who is not even affiliated with the program.

From there, though, things only got more controversial as ITV2 cut short part of their performance of new song “Beautiful Life,” which led to outrage from many on Twitter … including some who felt like there was already more talking by host Caroline Flack and others over this performance in comparison to others that have been on the show over the years.

What is almost equally bizarre is that the show tweeted out an apology, but then deleted it after the fact:

“#Jcats We’re not sure what happened… but sincere apologies for cutting @UnionJWorld’s performance off.”

What may be just as crazy here is that this is not even the first time that the group has faced this sort of issue, as they also had some similar controversy during a performance associated with “Britain’s Got Talent” earlier this year (though it seemed a little more deliberate there that they were singing only a few bars).

If there was one thing that we would say to all Union J fans after all of this, it’s simply to not get too discouraged. This is the sort of stuff that brings a fan base closer together, and what makes this group particularly interesting is that they are such a tight-knit group. This band may not be as successful as some others out there, but they make up for it in a variety of other ways by being personable with fans and putting out consistently good music.

Our basic theory for tonight? The rest of the show ran late, and they simply did not have time to show off the full performance. It’s still sad, but hopefully they will get their due soon enough.

In case you missed it from earlier in the day, click here to read our full take on the results show tonight.

Photo: ITV