Man dies during Australian X Factor practice

A CONTESTANT in the Australian edition of the X Factor has died during rehearsals for his audition.

The 33-year-old New Zealand man was working on a song on his own at Sydney Cricket Ground when he collapsed.

The programme’s team of medics treated the man at the scene before he was rushed to hospital, where he later died.

Witnesses reported that the man ‘didn’t look very well’ prior to his fatal collapse.

A spokesman for the show’s production company, FreemantleMedia, called the incident ‘tragic’, adding: “He collapsed late on Friday and was treated by medics on site before being transferred by ambulance to St Vincent’s Hospital.”

The man’s identity is yet to be released by Sydney police, but a relative living in the city identified the victim.