Britney Spears: 'I followed Lovato in X Factor walk-out'

Britney Spears has confirmed reports she walked off the set of The X Factor during auditions in North Carolina on Tuesday as one disillusioned wannabe butchered her You Drive Me Crazy hit onstage.

However, the pop superstar insists she was just following fellow judge Demi Lovato's lead.

She explains, "She was like, 'Let's go!' And I was like, 'OK.' It was our dinner break, anyway. I usually can't look (at contestants) when they're bad."

Fellow judge Antonio 'L.A.' Reid joined the girls, leaving Simon Cowell to tell the tuneless wannabe he wouldn't be moving on in the contest.

Reid says, "It was just horrible. The truth is he was horrific. We just couldn't take it anymore. Simon has a little more tolerance and more patience than we do."

And Lovato adds, "I was really uncomfortable because I was like, 'Oh my gosh, he's on the floor crying because he thinks he's done such a good job.' I felt so bad. I laughed at first, but then I felt bad."