Officials have announced they will study evidence that the programme has been employing unpaid interns, after Graduate Fog exposed the story last week. We have also demanded a public apology from Simon Cowell, if it is found that X Factor has broken the law. This would send a clear message to big businesses that it is not okay to exploit their young staff.

Following our correspondence with several representatives for the programme...

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The production company behind X Factor has claimed that they were unaware that there have been four unpaid interns working on-set, full-time for the last three months, assisting stylist Laury Smith.

Attempting to distance themselves further from this story, TalkbackThames have also asked that we change the post that went live on Graduate Fog yesterday, making it clear that “her [Smith's] interns are not X Factor interns.” Here is their email in full:

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**GRADUATE FOG EXCLUSIVE!**

The team behind the X Factor has admitted to Graduate Fog that it employs at least four interns who work full-time, for three months, paid travel and lunch expenses only.

The interns’ employer told us: “They are a great group, they work hard and we really cherish them. It is a totally normal situation in the industry, they get great experience and are now really ready to be employed as fashion assistants, with a years worth of experience in 3 months and a great reference.”

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A graduate is suing the government over an unpaid two-week work placement at Poundland which she was told to complete by her local job centre – or face losing her Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA).

Cait Reilly, 22 – a geology graduate from Birmingham University – had been seeking experience in the museum sector, but was told she must complete a “mandatory” fortnight at the discount high street store instead, or forfeit her £53 a week JSA.

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The founder of a new website which charges people to intern for free has claimed his company offers a useful and valuable service to young jobseekers, by charging them up to £200 to work for free for the day as so-called “Assisterns”.

Kit Sadgrove, chief executive of Etsio.com, told Recruiter: “There is absolutely pent-up demand from people willing to pay an employer for work experience. It is incredibly cheap if you see it as training, considering you are sitting next to a business owner and learning their secrets. If people are keen enough to do this they will go out and flip burgers in order to get the money [they need].”

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As youth unemployment has soared, Britain’s elected MPs – from millionaire Tory cabinet members to Labour backbenchers – have been disregarding the National Minimum Wage law by employing unpaid interns, a new Guardian report has found...

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WESTWOOD BACKS OCCUPY LSX PROTEST – BUT DOESN’T PAY HER OWN INTERNS

Graduate Fog was surprised to hear that Vivienne Westwood is backing the Occupy LSX protest – when we revealed last month that the fashion designer refuses to pay her own interns, who work full-time for up to three months. Given that the protest is against corporate greed, her actions seem at odds with her own company’s policy on using unpaid workers...

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CHAIN IGNORES QUESTIONS ABOUT ITS THREE-MONTH, UNPAID INTERNSHIP

The high street fashion chain French Connection (FCUK) has advertised a full-time, three month unpaid internship on their company website – and ignored multiple emails from us asking how they feel this fits with National Minimum Wage legislation, as part of our Pay Your Interns campaign.

After 18 emails and five phone messages from Graduate Fog – sent over six weeks to four members for the HR and press office teams – we are still waiting for a response about the company’s internship policy. But we can see the brand is currently advertising a three-month internship on their own website, which is full-time and pays expenses only...

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SHOCK NEW DOCUMENTS SHOW WARNINGS DATE BACK TO JULY 2010

Interns’ rights campaigners have accused politicians of “cowardice” after it emerged that they have been deliberately ignoring warnings about the damage unpaid internships are doing for A YEAR AND A HALF. Several new documents – unearthed by Interns Anonymous, friends of Graduate Fog – have revealed that the Government was first warned by in July 2010 that unpaid internships are illegal and damaging for social mobility.

But it appears that these warnings were ignored, betraying hundreds of thousands of young people. Why? Because clamping down on the practice would clash with the Government’s ‘Big Society’ agenda, and plans toincrease the number of internships – paid or unpaid – as a method of getting young people into work...

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NEW EVIDENCE FORCES CHAIN TO BREAK THEIR SILENCE OVER POLICY ON INTERNSHIPS

River Island has been forced to respond to our questions about their policy on internships after a former intern posted a diary of an internship with the retailer on a blog – and confirmed that the placement was unpaid. When challenged, River Island did not deny that they run unpaid placements involving real work – and instead tried to excuse their actions, saying: “We often get feedback that by choosing to complete work experience with us it gives people a good insight into the fashion industry and a valuable experience on their CVs.”

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