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Sunday, November 28, 2010

Will drug claims see Wagner's X Factor dream go up in smoke? Hopeful 'scores cannabis inside show's studios'

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER


On a high: Wagner, seen here performing on last night's X Factor, is alleged to have scored cannabis inside the X Factor's London studios recently


X Factor contestant Wagner Carrilho allegedly carried out a drug deal inside the X Factor studios.

The Brazilian contestant bought cannabis from a dealer recently following the live Sunday results show, it is claimed.


The 54-year-old former contestant is said to have been buying a steady supply of the mind-bending drug over the past few months, the Sunday Mirror claims.

Wagner, who is also being investigated over incapacity benefits, apparently scored the drugs in week three of the live show.

He arranged for his supplier - who has not been named by the newspaper - to get backstage access at Fountain Studios by giving him and friends and family pass.

The unnamed deal told the Sunday Mirror: 'The first time I met Wagner I had one of my friends with me and he had been smoking earlier on in the day.

'He asked me if I could get him any. He said he was getting really stressed out by the show and cannabis helped him relax.'


Fancy footwork: The Brazilian contestant bought the drugs following a Sunday result show, it has been claimed


The dealer claims he sold Wagner £10-worth of cannabis in a side room at the X Factor studios in north-west London.

The newspaper also claims the karate expert bought more weed on a least five separate occasions after meeting in the bar of the Premier Inn in Elstree, Herts.

When quizzed on the drug, Wagner apparently said: 'A lot of geniuses like Bob Marley and Paul McCartney smoked cannabis.'

An X Factor spokeswoman told Mail Online today: 'He denies it, but we take allegations of drug-taking extremely seriously and we will be looking into it. '

Last night fans of the hit show saw Wagner perform two songs for rock week.
He opened the show with the Radiohead track Creep, before following it up with Addicted To Love by Robert Palmer later on in the programme.

The latest revelations come after it emerged he is being investigated by the authorities over incapacity benefits.


Always in the headlines: The hopeful is also being investigated by authorities over incapacity benefit claims


The long-haired Brazilian told producers of the ITV programme he was receiving the payments before he signed up.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said: 'We do not discuss individuals but we do reassess people regularly.

'Anyone who claims can be called in for an assessment if we feel circumstances have changed.'

A source said it was likely that the controversial singer's claim would be looked at again in light of his on-stage antics.

But a spokeswoman for the programme said Carrilho had declared everything and had done nothing wrong.

She said: 'Wagner declared to us that he was receiving benefits before he joined the show.

'We advised him to contact the benefits office regarding his taking part in X Factor, which he did. He was deemed physically fit to take part in the show.'

X Factor judge Simon Cowell has described the former PE teacher's act as 'the most bonkers ... I've seen in my life'.

Fellow judge Louis Walsh said of him: 'He may not be the best singer, but he is the most entertaining.'

Meanwhile, Wagner has been claiming that he's being ganged up on and bullied out of the show by contestants, the show's production team and even by the judges .

He even bizarrely told a friend that mentor Louis is out to get him.

Vanessa Stocks told the News of The World: 'It is clear he's being bullied out of the show. They're making his life an absolute hell.

'It seems Wagner has served his purpose and got their ratings up and now they want rid of him.'

Wagner begged me to marry his cousin
By Lara Gould and Sharon Churcher
He’s the man X Factor fans either love or hate.

On screen Wagner Carrilho is happy to play the fool – sending himself up with so-bad-they’re-good performances surrounded by scantily-clad young dancers.

But behind the rhinestone costumes straining to contain his expanding middle-aged spread, there lies a playboy past.

Amazingly, it is a past that even includes a failed attempt by the 54-year-old former double-glazing salesman to marry his own cousin.


Whirlwind romanc: Katia Fiuza Lima (left) who dated her first cousin Wagner - whose real name is Wagner Lima Fiuza-Carillho - with her mother Iolanda Fiuza Lima


In 1979 Wagner began a whirlwind romance with stunning ballerina Katia Fiuza Lima – a talented young dancer in his native Brazil – and fell ‘head over heels in love’ with her.

Katia had just turned 20 when, with the blessing of her father – a lawyer in the capital Brasilia – she moved to Rio de Janeiro to study ballet.

‘Wagner lived there with his family and he offered to be her escort and show her the sights,’ Katia’s brother, Alexi Lima, a distinguished pianist based in the US, told The Mail on Sunday.

‘Katia was very good-looking and he became infatuated with her and I think for a time she was infatuated with him too.

‘He was a very popular guy in Rio, handsome and charismatic. His life revolved around having a good time on the beach and in the clubs.

‘But when he started to date Katia, there was a feeling that it couldn’t last. In Brazil, just as in England, there is a certain taboo about dating your first cousin.’

After courting Katia for just two months, during which he took the naive girl from the Brazilian provinces to a Frank Sinatra concert as well as his favourite topless beaches, social worker Carole Davies in 1997.

In an interview from Brasilia, where she now works as choreographer and ballet teacher, Katia said he was ‘determined’ to win her hand.

She said: ‘I told him ours was a summer romance and I tried to dissuade him. I told him I was too young, that I had my whole life in front of me, but when Wagner wants something, he relentlessly does everything he can to get it.

‘He’s very macho and even in those days, when he was only 24, he ordered women around. But I told him I was breaking off our romance and I never spoke to him again.
‘I was very surprised when I saw him on X Factor, doing his crazy dance steps.’


Flashy: Wagner is often surrounded by young dancers during his routines on the X Factor


Those crazy dance steps, however, have helped propel Wagner – real name Wagner Lima Fiuza-Carrilho – to national fame.

The controversial finalist is now on course to derail the entire series after bookmakers slashed the odds on him winning from 100-1 to 10-1.

But he is apparently about to be hit with a costly divorce from his second wife – from whom he split before he found fame. Wagner wed social worker Carole Davies in 1997.

But the marriage collapsed ten years later when Carole, now 61, found he had fathered a child with another woman – Jenny Yawari, 36.

Anthony Nichols, who has lived next door to Carole for 15 years, said: ‘Carole told me she is going to wait for the show to end and then get a divorce. She thinks he will have a lot of money when X Factor is over.’

Last night, music industry expert Jonathan Shalit, who masterminded Charlotte Church’s rise to fame,predicted that Wagner would make a minimum of £500,0000 from X Factor.

He said: ‘There will be a one-off novelty record but the big money will come from personal appearances – at £10,000 a time.’


Big money: Music industry mogul Jonathan Shallit reckons that Wagner will earn at least £500,000 off the back of the show


Last night, Wagner received rare praise when he sang Radiohead’s Creep in a rock-themed edition of the show.

Dannii Minogue said: 'That's the best you've sung - you connected with the lyrics.'
Even Simon Cowell was impressed, saying: 'For you, that was very good.'

Wagner also performed Robert Palmer’s Addicted To Love.

Katie Waissel gave a spine-tingling performance of R.E.M's Everybody Hurts, and Cowell said: 'This is when you're at your best, when you're on the ropes'.

Cher Lloyd picked Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend and Aerosmith’s Walk This Way.

Rebecca Ferguson sang U2’s I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For and the Rolling Stones’ Satisfaction while Matt Cardle performed Joan Jett’s I Love Rock ’N’ Roll and the Moody Blues’ Nights In White Satin.

Additional reporting: Harold Emert in Brazil





source: dailymail