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West Belfast X-Factor duo Descendance forced to split by judges

Descendance performed in the group stage. Picture by Tom Dymond/Syco/Thames/ITV Plc/PA
Descendance performed in the group stage. Picture by Tom Dymond/Syco/Thames/ITV Plc/PA Descendance performed in the group stage. Picture by Tom Dymond/Syco/Thames/ITV Plc/PA

A MOTHER-daughter singing duo from west Belfast hoping to make it big on The X-Factor have been split up by the show’s judges.

Debye Gaskin, 40, and her daughter Hayley Norton, 23, known together as Descendance, are originally from Canada but have been living in Belfast since 2004.

The pair had made it through to the second round of the competition, despite the panel suggesting Hayley continue as a solo act after their first audition.

On Saturday night, Descendance performed Dead or Alive’s You Spin Me Round alongside fellow contestants Ginny Lemon, Doctor Wolf and Russell Jones.

Following their performance, judges Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne, Nicole Scherzinger and Louis Walsh reiterated their previous comments, stating Hayley should continue on her own.

"Debye we think your daughter is really talented and this is not going to work as a group," Simon Cowell said.

The judges allowed Hayley to speak to an upset Debye backstage and after a few moments she told her daughter: "I know exactly what I am going to tell them."

Returning to the stage, Debye said she would bow out of the competition and let her daughter continue to the next stage.

"She’s my baby star, that’s what I called her when she was born, she’s going to go forward," she said.

"This is just a hard one to swallow."