Natalia Kills and husband Willy Moon fired from X Factor New Zealand for ‘bullying’

Forget Simon Cowell – X Factor New Zealand’s Natalia Kills and her husband Willy Moon are seriously nasty.

And now they’re unemployed.

X Factor NZ judges Natalia and Willy have been fired with immediate effect following harsh criticism of a contestant. And when we say ‘harsh criticism’ we basically mean bullying.

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Singer Natalia did NOT like contestant Joe Irvine's live performance and called it "disgusting" and "absolutely artistically atrocious".

The show's producer MediaWorks described the pair's comments as "unacceptable" and they have left The X Factor NZ "effective immediately".

"Last night on* X Factor* both Kills and Moon made comments that were completely unacceptable," chief executive Mark Weldon explained.

"While the judges on X Factor are expected to provide critiques of the performances, we will not tolerate such destructive tirades from any of the judges.

"Contestants put their all into this competition and they should expect to receive feedback and criticism that is professional and constructive.

"We no longer have confidence that Kills and Moon are the right people to perform the role of X Factor judges and they will leave the show, effective immediately."

Natalia started the controversy when she told the contestant she was "disgusted" that he had copied her husband Willy because he was wearing a suit. And, you know, no one else in the world has ever done that…

"From the hair, to the suit, do you not have any value or respect for originality?" she commented. "You're a laughing stock - it's cheesy, it's disgusting, I personally found it absolutely artistically atrocious."

Willy added: "To me it just seems a little bit cheap and absurd. It's like Norman Bates dressing up in his mother's clothing. It's just a little bit creepy.

"I feel like you're going to stitch someone's skin to your face and then kill everybody in the audience."

Natalia jumped back in: "I'm going to say it. It's disgusting. You make me sick. It's absolutely disgusting. You have no identity. I can't stand it. I'm ashamed to be here."

Co-producer FremantleMedia Australia backed MediaWorks' decision, and criticised Natalia and Willy’s "very poor judgement and intention".

"We 100 per cent support TV3 and MediaWorks in their decision to remove them," director of programming Jonathon Summerhayes said.

"The X Factor does not tolerate the behaviour they displayed last night."

After Natalia tweeted the video of her single Problem, saying, “I love you guys, thanks for your support & understanding my passionate opinions! You know what they say about me...”, fellow X Factor NZ judge All Saints’ Melanie Blatt took to Twitter to give her opinions on Natalia.

“I’ve tried to keep my cool and stay professional but really @nataliakills ? Sorry love, you're a tw*t.”

She’s got a point…