Rivals such as Justin Hawkins and Brian Harvey were furious when Scooch admitted they had two hidden backing singers to boost their performance.

They claimed the group duped the public by getting them to vote without knowing they had offstage help on winning song Flying The Flag (For You).

Former East 17 star Brian said: "I was p***** off with the whole Scooch thing. I thought one of the singers was mouthing something and nothing came out. The public have been conned."

The cheating storm will be an embarrassment to the BBC after Terry Wogan gaffed by announcing the wrong winner on Saturday night's Making Your Mind Up - which attracted 6.2million viewers.

Scooch admitted using the two backing singers in their late 40s but insisted they sang on the track - voted for by thousands of viewers on a 25p-a-time phone line.

"It is difficult to sing while running around doing dance routines. The reason the singers were backstage was because they didn't look the part. They were contracted by the BBC and sang the high harmonies.

A source said: "It was mayhem backstage. When Justin came off, he said, 'Oh f*** it, f*** it, f*** the public, f***Eurovision. I will make it on my own anyway'."

Angry Justin even branded the British public "racist or stupid", claiming Beverlei never got votes simply because she is black. He added: "The whole thing whiffed of a stitch-up."

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