After a strong public reaction and a social media campaign to bring her back, contestant Jackie Thomas has returned to The X Factor.
After the Greymouth singer was culled at the boot camp part of the competition, a Facebook page was set up that urged the producers to put her back on the talent show and said the judges had made "the worst decision of their career".
Almost 8500 people liked the page and last night they saw their dream realised. One person said they stopped watching the show when they threw Thomas out.
"I knew if they got it this wrong this early on ... it wasn't going to get much better," the person said in a post on the Facebook page.
Thomas, 22, was "blown away" by the response from the public. "Now I just hope I can do them proud at the judges' retreats."
She impressed the judges at her audition with a rendition of Skinny Love by Bon Iver and got a standing ovation from the audience. She was given four yes votes and described afterwards by Mel Blatt as being "a performance from the winner of X Factor". However, she let nerves get the better of her at boot camp and was one of 36 acts that were sent home on day two, after a disappointing performance at Vector Arena.
After she was booted off, she said in an interview with TV3 that she knew straight away that what she did wasn't good enough and that she was upset but not surprised at the judges' decision.
The guest mentors were also revealed last night - singer and Australian X Factor judge Guy Sebastian helped the boys, Hollie Smith joined the over-25s, S Club 7 member Rachel Stevens helped Blatt with the groups and Natasha Bedingfield paired up with her brother Daniel.
Stevens said this was her first visit back to New Zealand since they toured here with the band. She said it was an exciting week during the judges' retreats and that it was great fun to be part of the show.
"I got quite nostalgic seeing the young bands enjoying themselves, creating new styles and sounds. It was lovely to be part of.
"I had a great time in S Club and know how much they've got to look forward to. Being back in New Zealand, albeit briefly, was a pleasure and I'm excited for Mel and for the show."
